A Delhi court on Friday denied bail to Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia in a money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the alleged irregularities in the national capital’s now-scrapped liquor policy, Bar and Bench reported.
Special Judge MK Nagpal of the Rouse Avenue Court said in his order that the prosecution was able to show “a genuine and prima facie case for Sisodia’s involvement” in the case, according to PTI.
The former Delhi deputy chief minister was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation on February 26 and is in judicial custody. The Enforcement Directorate is investigating the money laundering aspect of the case.
The Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate have alleged that the excise policy was modified to ensure a 12% profit margin for wholesalers and a nearly 185% profit margin for retailers.
On March 31, Justice Nagpal had denied bail to Sisodia in the case filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation, saying he can prima facie be held the “architect of the criminal conspiracy”.
Sisodia has challenged the verdict in the Delhi High Court, claiming that the CBI had no evidence against him and that he was being singled out.
“They say that I [Sisodia] do not cooperate,” Senior Advocate Dayan Krishnan, representing the Aam Aadmi Party leader, told the High Court. “This can never be the ground to deny me the bail. I am not required to cooperate, confess, or answer questions in the way they want. I am required to answer in the way I want, that is the constitutional guarantee.”
On April 25, the Central Bureau of Investigation named Sisodia as an accused person in a chargesheet filed in the case for the first time. The central agency also named Hyderabad-based chartered accountant Butchi Babu, Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader K Kavitha, Arjun Pandey and Amandeep Dhal.
On Friday, Justice Nagpal said that Sisodia’s request for relief was rejected by the court due to the severity of the accusations against him, and his alleged involvement in the criminal conspiracy and association with activities related to the creation, acquisition, and utilisation of the proceeds of the crime, according to PTI.
Nagpal added that oral and documentary evidence collected in the case supported the Enforcement Directorate’s claims. He also denied that the poor health condition of Sisodia’s as a ground to grant him bail.
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