New Delhi:The Delhi High Court will on Thursday hear former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia bail application in the alleged excise policy scam which was being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The bail plea will come up for hearing before Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma on Thursday.
On Wednesday, AAP staged a protest against the ruling BJP in the Centre against the arrest of Sisodia accusing the saffron party of using the agencies to arm-twist the Opposition and to make its vocal critics fall in line. Meanwhile, a petition to this effect filed before the Supreme Court was thrown out.
The Sisodia's bail application moved Wednesday follows the junking of his bail application by the trial court. The trial court, on March 31, dismissed Sisodia's bail petition, observing that the senior AAP leader was "prima facie the architect" in the alleged scam and the related advance kickback payments made in this connection.
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The Court observed that the former Deputy CM played the "most important and vital role" in the alleged criminal conspiracy relating to alleged payment of advance kickbacks of around Rs 90-100 crore meant for him and his colleagues in the Delhi government.
The special CBI judge M K Nagpal, in his orders, refused to grant relief to the senior AAP leader stating that Sisodia played the "most important and vital role in the above criminal conspiracy". The judge said Sisodia was deeply involved in formulation and implementation of the excise policy to ensure achievement of objectives of the said conspiracy.
"The payment of advance kickbacks of around Rs. 90-100 crore was meant for him and his other colleagues in the GNCTD and Rs 20-30 crores out of the above are found to have been routed through the co-accused Vijay Nair, Abhishek Boinpally and approver Dinesh Arora....."
"....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," the judge wrote in the order dismissing the bail application of Sisodia.
The trial court's 34-page-long order had also said Sisodia's release may adversely affect the ongoing investigation. The CBI, on Feb. 26, arrested him in connection with the alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22, after marathon questioning by the agency.
