Delhi HC notice to CBI on Manish Sisodia bail plea, next hearing on April 20

NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court on Thursday sought the response of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia’s bail plea in connection with the alleged irregularities in framing and implementing the now-scrapped 2021-22 Delhi liquor excise policy.

Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma issued notice to the probe agency on Sisodia’s appeal against the trial court’s rejection of his bail application on March 31. The high court will next take up Sisodia’s appeal on April 20.

Senior counsel Mohit Mathur and Dayan Krishnan appearing for the senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader pointed out that five of the accused named in the charge sheet had not even been arrested and many of the accused who had been arrested were released on bail even before the charge sheet was filed.

Sisodia’s petition for bail underlined that he didn’t pose a flight risk, that he couldn’t influence witnesses who were mostly government officials and that he wasn’t the only one to sign off on the excise policy that is at the centre of the CBI investigation.

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“The policy was implemented after the same was drafted by Excise Department and approved by planning, finance and law departments. The policy was then sent to the LG of NCT of Delhi for its approval. That the applicant (Sisodia) cannot be held criminally liable for being part of Cabinet that approved the excise policy, “ the plea said.

It further said that the Group of Ministers (GoM) was only tasked with giving its report and suggestion to the cabinet and the policy had to be ultimately accepted by the Cabinet and various departments of Govt. of NCT of Delhi.

“That the said policy, with its 12% profit margin and eligibility criteria, was accepted by the Cabinet, finance department, the planning department, the law department and ultimately by the LG. That with so many approvals to policy at various levels of government including various departments of Delhi and LG, the applicant (Sisodia) cannot be made liable for same, “ the bail petition said.

Sisodia contended that since he continues to be an MLA, there can be no apprehension of him being a flight risk or evading process of law.

He also stressed that he made himself available for investigation right from the day when the FIR was registered on August 17, 2022.

Sisodia also said that he was arrested more than six months after the registration of the FIR, adding that during this period, there was not a single instance when he was accused of threatening any witnesses.

“The possibility of threatening witness cannot be said to arise without there being any material or antecedents of the applicant. The witnesses in this case against the applicant are primarily civil servants, over whom the applicant exercises no control, especially now since he has resigned his official posts. In the absence of any specific allegation supported by material, the applicant cannot be kept incarcerated, “ the plea said.

Sisodia’s bail application was rejected by special CBI judge MK Nagpal who expressed apprehension that his release may adversely impact the ongoing investigation and “seriously hamper” its progress.

Sisodia, who held the excise portfolio, was initially arrested by CBI on February 26 in connection with the case and was sent to Tihar jail by the Rouse Avenue court. He was then arrested by ED on March 9 in connection with a separate case related to the excise policy, after he was interrogated for more than nine hours. After his ED custody ended, a Delhi court sent him back to Tihar jail on March 22, where he is currently lodged.

The controversy relates to the Delhi government’s excise policy rolled out for the 2021-22 financial year in November 2021. The policy marked the exit of the government from retail sales of alcohol and allowing private companies to bid for licenses — the objective, the government said, was to improve the buying experience for citizens by allowing market competition to raise standards.

But the policy was scrapped when the lieutenant governor VK Saxena asked for an investigation, citing a report by the chief secretary who alleged irregularities. AAP and its city government have rejected the charges, alleging it to be a ploy by the BJP-controlled Union government to target rivals.