Supreme Court reserves order on Manish Sisodia bail plea

The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved its decision on AAP leader Manish Sisodia’s bail pleas and questioned the CBI and ED about the anticipated conclusion of the corruption and money laundering cases related to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.

The court noted that there are a total of 493 witnesses across both cases and inquired about the time required to complete the trial. A bench comprising Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan asked Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S V Raju, representing the investigation agencies, to provide a realistic timeline for the trial’s end, even if half of the witnesses were dropped.

ASG Raju informed the court that there are eight key witnesses in each case filed by the CBI and ED. The bench then asked when the trial could commence, to which Raju replied that these key witnesses could be examined within a month after charges are framed.

Raju further argued that some witnesses had faced threats from co-accused individuals, and the delay in the cases was not due to the investigating agencies. He pointed out that although the charge sheet against Sisodia had been filed, he had not applied for discharge, suggesting that the trial could have progressed. Raju also mentioned that the delay was caused by Sisodia and other accused filing multiple applications in the trial court to obtain documents not relied upon by the prosecution.

The bench observed that none of these applications had been dismissed as frivolous or for delaying tactics. Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing Sisodia, contended that the agencies had not previously expressed concerns about evidence tampering. Singhvi argued that such claims, common in bail matters, were unfounded and only raised before the Supreme Court to prevent Sisodia’s release.

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

As the former deputy chief minister of Delhi, Sisodia has been in custody for 17 months and is seeking bail, arguing that the trial has yet to begin. Both the ED and CBI have opposed his bail requests.

During Monday’s proceedings, the ED presented documents to the Supreme Court, asserting Sisodia’s deep involvement in the alleged scam and emphasizing that the case was not fabricated, as substantial evidence pointed to his direct participation.

Singhvi highlighted the delay in the case, noting the presence of 493 witnesses and 69,000 pages of documents in the corruption and money laundering cases filed by the CBI and ED.

The Supreme Court agreed to hear Sisodia’s pleas on July 16, requesting responses from the CBI and ED. Sisodia previously challenged the Delhi High Court’s May 21 decision to deny his bail pleas, following a trial court’s April 30 rejection of his bail applications in both cases. (With inputs from PTI)