Excise policy case: Delhi HC rejects Manish Sisodia's bail plea

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed the bail plea of Manish Sisodia the former Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi in a CBI case related to alleged corruption in the implementation of the previous liquor policy in the national capitalAccording to news agency ANI the bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma denied bail to Sisodia and said that the applicant Sisodia being a powerful person there is the possibility of him influencing the witnessesDuring arguments the CBI had opposed the bail plea moved by Manish Sisodia and stated The applicant Sisodia enjoys close nexus with the executive offices and bureaucrats and his influence and clout is evident His party colleagues holding high ranks continue to make factually wrong claims in order to influence the investigation and also claiming the applicant to be a victim of a political vendettaA perusal of the said statements by this political leader s during the press conferences would reveal how the entire efforts of not only the Applicant but his party colleagues as a whole are to shield the accused stated CBI in its reply opposing bail plea of Sisodia CBI said reported ANIThe statements also undermine the authority of the Special Judge CBI having already taken cognizance of the offences and are being made to adversely impact the investigation by levelling unwarranted and unsubstantiated allegations against the CBI thereby influencing and deterring the witnesses of the case said the CBICBI in its reply filed in Delhi High Court stated that any release of the Applicant on bail shall gravely prejudice the investigation herein more specifically when the Applicant fails to meet the triple test for bail While personal liberty is paramount the same is not absolute but subject to reasonable restrictions including the interest of the state and the publicDuring the arguements earlier Manish Sisodia through Senior Advocate Dayan Krishnan submitted that the Central Bureau of Investigation has no evidence to show his involvement in the alleged irregularities in the framing and implementation of the excise policy of the GovernmentThe lawyer submitted that every accused in the CBI case has been released on bail except Sisodia Sisodia was arrested on February 26 2023 more than 6 months after the Registration of FIR in the matter And during the entirety of said investigation of 6 months before the arrest of the applicant there was not a single that Applicant extended any threat to any witnessSisodia in his bail stated that the possibility of a threat to witness cannot be said to arise without there being any material or antecedents of the Applicant The witnesses in this case against the applicant are primarily civil servants over whom the Applicant exercises no control especially now since he has resigned from his official postEarlier the Delhi HC had issued notice to CBI on a bail plea moved by Manish Sisodia challenging a trial court order denying bail to him in a CBI case related to ExciseSisodia was arrested by the CBI on February 26 2023 and is presently in Judicial custody His bail plea was on March 31 2023 by the trial Court in the caseThe trial Court while dismissing Sisodias bail plea said The court is not inclined to release him on bail at this stage of investigation of the case as his release may adversely affect the ongoing investigation and will also seriously hamper the progressAccording 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 conspiracyThe payment of advance kickbacks of around Rs 90100 crores was meant for him and his other colleagues in the GNCTD and Rs 2030 crores out of the above are found to have been routed through the coaccused Vijay Nair Abhishek Boinpally and approver Dinesh Arora and 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 South liquor lobby and to ensure repayment of the kickbacks to the said lobby stated CBISisodia was arrested by CBI and ED in an ongoing investigation of a case related to alleged irregularities in the framing and implementation of the excise policy of the Government of the National Capital Territory of DelhiEarlier the trial court noted that the accused had joined the investigation of this case on two earlier occasions but he had failed to provide satisfactory answers to most of the questions put to him during his examination and interrogation thus failing to legitimately explain the incriminating evidence which allegedly surfaced against him during the investigationWith inputs from ANI