SC to hear Manish Sisodia’s bail plea

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court is set to hear AAP leader Manish Sisodia’s bail pleas on Monday. Sisodia, the former Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, is seeking bail in corruption and money laundering cases tied to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.

He has been in custody for 16 months, with no significant trial progress since October last year.

The Supreme Court’s cause list for July 29 indicates that Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan will hear Sisodia’s pleas.

The Court had previously agreed on July 16 to hear the pleas and sought responses from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Sisodia has also applied to revive his bail petitions in these cases.

Sisodia was arrested by the CBI on February 26, 2023, for alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy 2021-22. The ED subsequently arrested him on March 9, 2023, in a money laundering case related to the CBI FIR. He resigned from the Delhi cabinet on February 28, 2023.

On June 4, the Supreme Court had refused to entertain Sisodia’s bail pleas, advising him to revive the petitions after the final prosecution complaint and charge sheet were filed.

Sisodia had previously challenged the Delhi High Court’s May 21 dismissal of his bail pleas, which followed a trial court’s April 30 denial. The top court had earlier denied bail on October 30, 2023, citing evidence of Rs 338 crore in alleged financial gains.