Sisodia gets bail from Supreme Court in excise policy case
Former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister to come out of jail after 17 months. The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in cases related to the Delhi Excise Police case. The court granted regular bail to Sisodia in cases probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) related to the now-defunct excise policy. Sisodia will come out of jail after 17 months.
A bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Vishwanathan directed Sisodia to furnish a bail bond of Rs 10 lakh with two sureties, submit his passport and appear before the investigating officer twice a week on Monday and Thursday. The bench said he will not make any attempt to influence witnesses or tamper with evidence.
The apex court had reserved its order in the case on August 6. The bench also refused to accept the ED’s request seeking to restrict Sisodia from visiting the Delhi Secretariat or the Chief Minister’s Office, as was done in the case of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal when he was granted interim bail to campaign for the Lok Sabha elections.The CBI and the ED had argued that the plea was not maintainable as Sisodia would have to first approach the trial court.
This was the third time Sisodia had approached the apex court for bail. Last year, on October 30, the apex court had refused to grant him bail but had kept a window open by allowing him to revive his bail plea if the trial does not conclude in the next six to eight months or proceeds at a slow pace.
The court considered the merits of the plea
Since the trial could not begin in six months, Sisodia sought bail on the ground of delay, but the Delhi High Court dismissed his plea on May 21. He approached the apex court in June after the ED told the vacation bench that it would file its complaint (or chargesheet) by July 3. Recording this submission, the court refused to consider the merits of the plea. Last month, Sisodia filed his third plea for bail, the second time against the high court order of May 21.
What is the case against Manish Sisodia? Manish Sisodia was arrested by the CBI in February 2023 and a month later by the ED as well. The case was registered in July 2022 based on a complaint by Delhi LG VK Saxena alleging irregularities in the excise policy. Apart from Sisodia, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and AAP MP Sanjay Singh have also been arrested in connection with the ED probe. Singh is out on bail, while the Delhi CM is in judicial custody and lodged in Tihar jail.
Sisodia’s bail rejected
After Sisodia’s bail was rejected, AAP leader Sanjay Singh was seen distributing sweets at his residence. Singh said, “This is the victory of truth. As I have said earlier, there is no truth/evidence in this case. Our leaders were forcibly put in jail. I pray to God that Arvind Kejriwal and Satyendra Jain also come out of jail soon. This is a slap on the dictatorship of the central government.
A bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Vishwanathan directed Sisodia to furnish a bail bond of Rs 10 lakh with two sureties, submit his passport and appear before the investigating officer twice a week on Monday and Thursday. Sisodia, who is facing charges of bribing liquor vendors, was arrested by the ED and CBI on February 26, 2023 and March 9, 2023 respectively.
Supreme Court asks CBI and ED
During the proceedings, the Supreme Court asked the CBI and ED as to when they expect to complete these cases given the extensive investigation. The court observed that there are 493 witnesses in both the cases and asked that the trial be completed soon. How much time will it take to happen. The legal representative of the agencies underlined that there are eight key witnesses in each case filed by the CBI and the ED.
Sisodia refuted the claim that the delay was due to the investigating agencies. On July 16, the Supreme Court agreed to hear Sisodia’s petitions and sought responses from the CBI and the ED. Sisodia had earlier approached the apex court challenging the Delhi High Court’s May 21 decision dismissing his bail pleas, which stemmed from a trial court’s rejection of his bail pleas in both the cases on April 30.
Conclusion
The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in the Delhi Excise Policy case. The court had reserved its order on August 6.
Sisodia approached the Supreme Court and said that the trial has not started despite assurances given by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in October 2023 that it would be concluded within six to eight months. The court said that Sisodia has already suffered a long imprisonment of 17 months and the trial has not even started yet. The apex court said that “he has been deprived of his right to a speedy trial.
