A Delhi court on Monday extended the judicial custody of AAP leader Manish Sisodia until July 26 in connection with a corruption case tied to the alleged excise scam.
Special Judge Kaveri Baweja issued the order following Sisodia’s court appearance upon the expiry of his previous judicial custody.
On April 30, the court rejected Sisodia‘s bail pleas in the corruption and money laundering cases filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) related to the alleged scam.
The charges against Sisodia involve suspected irregularities in the creation and implementation of the Delhi excise policy for 2021-22. The investigative agencies claim that the profits from these irregularities were illicitly diverted to the accused officials, with fraudulent entries made to conceal them.
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Sisodia, an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader, was arrested by the CBI on February 26, 2023, and subsequently by the ED on March 9, 2023. He resigned from the Delhi cabinet on February 28, 2023. Earlier bail requests by Sisodia were denied by the high court in May and July of the previous year. The Supreme Court refused to intervene on October 30, 2023, noting that the agencies’ allegations of substantial financial gains by certain liquor distributors were provisionally backed by evidence.
The Delhi government implemented the excise policy on November 17, 2021, but terminated it by the end of September 2022 amidst corruption allegations. (With inputs from PTI)
