No Bail For Manish Sisodia Today, Supreme Court Defers Hearing To September
The Supreme Court bench concluded that Mr Sisodia’s wife is “fairly stable.”
New Delhi:
The Supreme Court today postponed the hearing of AAP leader Manish Sisodia’s interim bail requests in two Delhi excise policy cases being investigated by the CBI and ED until September 4.
Mr Sisodia had filed a petition for interim bail, citing his wife’s medical condition as a reason for his release.
However, a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti, having reviewed the medical records of Mr Sisodia’s wife, concluded that she is “fairly stable.”
The bench said that the Supreme Court will consider the interim bail pleas of the former deputy chief minister of Delhi alongside his regular bail pleas in the cases.
The Supreme Court on July 14 requested the CBI and the ED to provide their responses to the interim bail pleas filed by Sisodia in the cases.
Yesterday, the CBI asked the Supreme Court to deny bail to Mr Sisodia, alleging that he is the “kingpin and architect” of the conspiracy connected with the liquor policy irregularities case.
The CBI had on February 2 arrested Mr Sisodia, then the deputy chief minister of Delhi and the excise minister, on charges of his alleged involvement in irregularities in the liquor policy of the city. He has been in custody ever since.
The CBI accuses liquor companies of having a hand in drafting the Delhi excise policy in a way that would have granted them a 12% profit. The agency claims that a liquor lobby it calls the “South Group” paid kickbacks to public officials in order to secure this favorable policy. The CBI alleges that 6% of the proposed 12% profit was routed to public servants through middlemen.
