New Delhi: Former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday contended before the Supreme Court that the trial is moving at a snail's pace and he has been incarcerated for 16 months in the alleged liquor policy scam, after which the court issued notice to CBI, ED seeking their replies on his bail pleas in the corruption and money laundering case respectively.
A three-judge bench led by Justice B R Gavai, Sanjay Karol, and K V Viswanathan, took up the matter for hearing. On July 11, Justice Sanjay Kumar had recused himself from hearing the case and a new bench was constituted by the Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud. Sisodia’s counsel Vivek Jain requested the apex court to grant bail to his client and pressed that he had been inside the jail for 16 months’.
“The trial is at the same speed that it was in October 2023. This is not like an NDPS case. The trial is at snail's pace”, said the counsel. He pressed that this court’s order says that if it is not the fault of Sisodia then he may approach it. Sisodia moved the apex court seeking bail in cases filed by the CBI and the ED. After hearing submissions, the apex court has scheduled the matter for further hearing on July 29. Sisodia was arrested in February 2023.
Earlier, the AAP leader’s bail plea was declined by all courts – trial court, Delhi High Court, and the Supreme Court – in the cases registered by CBI and Enforcement Directorate. The apex court had also rejected his review and curative petitions regarding bail.
In March this year, Sisodia’s bail plea was dismissed by the trial court. The court had said that he was prima facie the “architect” of the alleged scam.
