The Delhi court has further extended the judicial custody of AAP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia along with Vijay Nair and others over the money laundering charges in the Excise police case till May 8. On April 18, his judicial custody was extended to April 26.
Earlier on April 20, Sisodia received another blow from the court, when his bail plea was denied. Sisodia sought interim bail in the excise case from the court to campaign for the ensuing general elections. The court denied bail after the CBI argued that Sisodia might influence further investigation and witnesses if granted bail. At first, Sisodia was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on February 26, 2023, for his alleged role in the Excise police scam. Later, stemming from the CBI FIR, the Enforcement Directorate arrested him in a money laundering case on March 9. 2023.
Both the probe agencies have argued that while modifying the Delhi Excise Policy, irregularities were committed to extending undue favours to licence holders. According to them, the licences were extended without the approval of the competent authorities while the licence fee was either waived or reduced. The probe agencies alleged that the beneficiaries diverted illegal gains to the accused officials and made false entries in their books of account top evade detection.
ALSO READ | ED challenges Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's plea against arrest in excise policy case
ALSO READ | Delhi liquor scam case: No bail for Manish Sisodia today, court reserves decision for April 30
