The Supreme Court, on Monday, gave the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) time till Thursday (August 1) to file its response to the former deputy chief minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia’s plea seeking bail in the alleged Delhi Excise Policy scam case.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is investigating Sisodia’s alleged criminal conspiracy angle in the money-laundering dimension being probed by the ED.
Posting the matter for hearing on August 5, a bench of Justice B R Gavai and Justice K V Viswanathan gave time to the ED time till Thursday to file its reply and gave two days to senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who is representing Sisodia in the case, to file rejoinder, if any, by Saturday (August 3).
The Additional Solicitor General S V Raju told the bench that the CBI has already filed its response but it is not on record.
On July 16, the apex court issued a notice and sought a reply from the CBI and the ED on Sisodia’s plea for bail as the court was told that the former deputy chief minister had been in incarceration for the last 16 months. Sisodia is presently in judicial custody in both the cases registered against him by the CBI and the ED in the case.
In the last hearing of Sisodia’s bail plea, the court was told “I have been inside for 16 months. The trial is at the same speed that was in October 2023. This is not like an NDPS case. The trial is at a snail’s pace. This court order says that if for no fault of Sisodia then I may approach the Supreme Court” for bail.
Earlier on June 4, Sisodia’s bail plea was listed before a vacation bench comprising Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Sandeep Mehta. The vacation bench did not take a call on Sisodia’s bail partition as it gave the ED time till June 3 to file final charge-sheet in the excise policy case.
While giving time to the ED to file the final chargesheet by July 3, the vacation bench permitted Sisodia to file, afresh, a bail petition thereafter. The vacation bench had recorded a statement by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that the Directorate of Enforcement will file a final complaint/chargesheet in two weeks.
“We will not say anything. We will dispose (of the plea for bail) with liberty to revive your prayers. We are not saying anything on merits and all contentions are left open. In both the CBI and the ED cases the order is (common) …. Ordered accordingly and disposed of. Statement of Solicitor General that final chargesheet will be filed by July 3 recorded,” the Court had said on June 4, 2024.
During the June 4 hearing, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi had told the court, “Liberty to move Supreme Court? I am inside for 15 months. Let me be very blunt, trial courts and High Courts do not deal with politically sensitive matters (on time).”
The first application for bail by Sisodia was heard by a bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice SVN Bhatti. The October 30, 2023, judgment of the top court had given Sisodia the liberty to make a fresh attempt for bail after three months if it appears that the trial is getting protected or moving at a snail’s pace.
“In view of the assurance given at the Bar on behalf of the prosecution that they shall conclude the trial by taking appropriate steps within the next six to eight months, we give liberty to the appellant – Manish Sisodia – to move a fresh application for bail in case of change in circumstances, or in case the trial is protracted and proceeds at a snail’s pace in next three months”, the top court had said in its October 30, 2023, judgment.
Sisodia, in the instant case, had approached the top court against the Delhi High Court order dismissing his bail plea in both the cases being prosecuted by the CBI and the ED. High Court judge Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, while rejecting the bail pleas of Sisodia, had said he has “not been able to make out a case for the grant of bail”.
“The case at hand is a grave misuse of power and breach of public trust by the applicant who was serving as Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi at the relevant point,” the high court had said.
Sisodia was arrested by the CBI on February 26, 2023, for alleged irregularities in the framing and implementation of Delhi’s excise policy for the year 2021-2022. He was arrested by the ED in an alleged money-laundering case stemming from the CBI FIR on March 9, 2023.
Sisodia had resigned from the Delhi government on February 28, 2023. The controversial policy was withdrawn amid allegations of foul play by the Opposition. He is currently in judicial custody.
The Delhi government implemented the policy on November 17, 2021, but it was scrapped at the end of September 2022 amid allegations of corruption.