New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted more time to the ED and the CBI to file their replies to former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia's pleas seeking bail in the corruption and money-laundering cases lodged by the agencies in relation to the alleged excise policy scam.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, who had on May 3 issued notices to the two agencies asking them to file their replies to the pleas and listed the matter for hearing on Wednesday, was informed by the counsel for the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that they need some more time to respond.
The request made by the agencies' lawyers was opposed by Sisodia's counsel who said he has been incarcerated and the ED and the CBI had assured the Supreme Court that the trial will be completed in six months.
The high court dictated its order saying, Respondents seek more time to file a reply. It is stated that the ED is in the process of filing another prosecution complaint in relation to a co-accused in the case.
Irrespective of that, the accused is in custody, and four more days are granted to the respondents to file their replies. The reply be placed on court record by Monday and an advance copy is also supplied to the other side by Monday, the court further said and listed the matter for hearing on May 14.
At the outset, the ED's counsel submitted that he had filed an application seeking one week to file its reply to the petition. He said the investigating officer is "neck-deep" in the investigation and they are also in the process of filing a supplementary prosecution complaint (charge sheet) in the case. He said the officers were also busy in the hearing of the case in the Supreme Court.
The counsel for the CBI also urged the court to grant a week for the agency to file a reply. In the high court, Sisodia challenged a trial court's April 30 order by which his bail petitions were dismissed on the ground that the stage was not right for granting bail to Sisodia.