Excise policy case: Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court on Wednesday (April 26) deferred the pronouncement of order for April 28, on the bail plea of former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in connection with the Delhi excise policy case being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Special judge MK Nagpal will now pronounce the order on April 28. On April 18, he had reserved its decision on Sisodia’s bail plea.
The ED had earlier submitted before the court that the AAP leader had planted fabricated emails to show that there was public approval for the policy. The directions to send these pre-drafted emails were given to Zakir Khan, Chairman of the Delhi Minorities’ Commission, who then asked his interns to send the emails, the ED claimed.
The probe agency had also said that the 60 days given to complete the investigation against Sisodia are not over yet. It said that it has found fresh evidence indicating Sisodia’s involvement in the alleged scam, and the investigation is at a crucial stage.
CBI names Manish Sisodia in charge sheet
Earlier on Tuesday, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a supplementary charge sheet against Sisodia in connection with the excise policy scam case. CBI in the charge sheet has also named Butchi Babu, Arjun Pandey and Amandeep Dhall along with Sisodia in the Delhi Liquor Policy case. The charge sheet was filed in Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court on Tuesday. This is the second chargesheet filed by CBI in the case.
On April 17, a special Delhi court extended the judicial custody of the AAP leader in the corruption and money laundering cases lodged by the CBI and the ED respectively in the alleged excise scam. Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court has fixed May 12 as the date for arguments on points of cognizance of the chargesheet.
Why Manish Sisodia is behind the bar?
CBI is probing the alleged irregularities in the liquor policy case. CBI arrested Sisodia for alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 on February 26. CBI conducted several rounds of questioning on the matter. Recently, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal was also summoned by the CBI in the same case and was quizzed for nearly nine hours.
Moreover, the ED is also interrogating Sisodia regarding the money laundering case related to the Excise Policy, claiming that Sisodia is the main conspirator in the corruption.
Sisodia accused of playing major role in 'criminal conspiracy'
According to the CBI, Sisodia had played the most important and vital role in the "criminal conspiracy" and he had been deeply involved in the formulation as well as the implementation of the said policy to ensure the achievement of the objectives of the said conspiracy.
The payment of advance kickbacks of around Rs 90-100 crores was meant for him and his other colleagues in the GNCTD and Rs 20-30 crores out of the above are found to have been routed through the co-accused Vijay Nair, Abhishek Boinpally and approver Dinesh Arora.
Further, in turn, certain provisions of the excise policy were permitted to be tweaked and manipulated by the applicant to protect and preserve the interests of the South liquor lobby and to ensure repayment of the kickbacks to the said lobby, noted the court.
(With IANS inputs)
Also Read: Delhi Excise Policy Scam Case: CBI names Manish Sisodia in charge sheet
