News Delhi Delhi Education Minister Atishi Marlena gets Manish Sisodia's government bungalow

Delhi Education Minister Atishi Marlena gets Manish Sisodia's government bungalow

Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj were inducted into the Cabinet after Sisodia's arrest in the Delhi excise policy scam case. Atishi got Education Ministry which was mastered by Sisodia. Atishi was instrumental behind formulating education policies along with Sisodia since AAP came to power in the UT.

Atishi Marlena replaced Manish Sisodia after he resigned as Education Minister Image Source : PTI/FILEAtishi Marlena replaced Manish Sisodia after he resigned as Education Minister

Jailed former Delhi deputy minister Manish Sisodia's official residence in Delhi was allotted to newly state Education Minister Atishi, a notice issued by Public Works Department Secretatriat read on Friday.

Sisodia's family has been given five days till March 21 to vacate Bungalow No. AB-17, Mathura Road, Delhi.

According to an official letter by the Public Works Department on March 14, Atishi has been asked to give her acceptance within eight days of the issuance of the letter.

Sisodia had been staying at the AB-17 bungalow on Mathura Road, which was earlier with former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

The bungalow was allotted to Sisodia in 2015, when the AAP government came to power in Delhi. "It is a routine exercise. Since Sisodia had resigned, his bungalow will be reallotted to Atishi," said an official.

Sisodia has been asked to vacate the bungalow on or before March 21, according to the letter. The letter said only 15 days retention period is permissible under the relevant rules.

Following the resignations of Sisodia and Satyendar Jain, both currently in Tihar jail in alleged corruption and money laundering cases, respectively, two Cabinet berths had fallen vacant.

Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj were later inducted into the Cabinet. Sisodia was arrested by CBI on February 26 in connection with alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy for 2021-22. He is in judicial custody till March 20.

Sisodia's trouble continues

A Special Court in Delhi granted the Enforcement Directorate (ED) five more days’ custody of Sisodia in the excise policy case on Friday.

Sisodia, who was arrested in a money laundering case related to the excise policy, was earlier sent to ED custody till March 17, after the federal agency sought the former Delhi deputy chief minister's remand to further unravel the conspiracy through which he was alleged to have generated proceeds of crime of more than Rs 290 crore. During today's hearing, Sisodia alleged that the sleuths used to waste his time as they asked questions for only 30 minutes a day. He claimed that the officials always take breaks in 30 minutes and added he wanted the officials should interrogate even at night.

However, the court rejected his allegations and said the officials were giving him "rest" after every 30 minutes of interrogation. 

(With PTI input)

Also Read: Delhi excise policy scam: ED questions Manish Sisodia for second time at Tihar jail