How long will trial take?: SC reserves order on AAP leader Sisodia bail plea

New Delhi: The Supreme Court, which on Tuesday reserved its order on pleas filed by AAP leader Manish Sisodia seeking bail, asked the CBI and ED where they see the “end of the tunnel” in corruption and money laundering cases linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.

The apex court said there are total 493 witnesses in both the cases and asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) how long it will take to conclude the trial.

“There are 493 witnesses. Assuming even if you drop 50 per cent of them, it comes to nearly 250. Realistically, tell us where do you see the end of the tunnel?” a bench of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan asked Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S V Raju, who was representing the probe agencies.

The law officer said there were eight important witnesses each in the cases lodged by the CBI and the ED in the matter.

“When can the trial commence?” the bench asked.

Raju responded, “Within a month of the framing of charges, these (eight) witnesses can be examined.” He argued there were some witnesses who were threatened by some of the other co-accused in these cases.

The law officer said Sisodia’s claim that delay in these cases was attributable to the probe agencies was not correct.

“The trial could have started. Our further probe was for something else. The charge sheet against him (Sisodia) has been filed so the trial could have proceeded,” Raju said, adding that Sisodia has not filed any application seeking discharge in these cases. He said delay in the progress of these cases has happened as Sisodia and other accused had filed several applications before the trial court seeking documents which were not relied upon by the prosecuting agencies. The bench observed that none of applications have been rejected by the court terming them as frivolous or intended to delay the trial.

Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Sisodia, said the probe agencies have not earlier raised apprehension about tampering of evidence.

“We are aware that in every bail matter, there is allegation of tampering of evidence,” the bench observed.

Singhvi said the arguments advanced by the prosecution was purely a “sham” and were not raised ever earlier before the high court or the trial court.

He said such arguments were raised on Tuesday before the apex court to defeat Sisodia’s release. The ED and the CBI have opposed his bail pleas.

During the arguments on Monday, the ED had claimed before the apex court that it has documents to show Sisodia’s “neck-deep involvement” in the alleged scam and it was not a “fabricated case” as there were a lot of evidence which indicated his direct involvement.

Highlighting the delay in the progress of these cases, Singhvi had argued that there were a total of 493 witnesses and 69,000 pages of documents in the corruption and money maundering cases lodged by the CBI and the ED, respectively.