New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia on Thursday moved the Supreme Court seeking bail in the CBI and ED cases arising out of the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.
He has moved the apex court challenging the two orders of the Delhi High Court which had dismissed his separate bail petitions in these cases. Sisodia, who also held the excise portfolio among many that he handled as the deputy chief minister of Delhi, was first arrested by the CBI on February 26 for his alleged role in the "scam", and has been in custody since then. He resigned from the Delhi cabinet on February 28.
The high court had on May 30 denied bail to him in the excise policy scam case being probed by the CBI, saying having been the deputy chief minister and excise minister, he is a "high-profile" person who has the potential to influence the witnesses.
On June 1, Sisodia was produced before court via video conferencing. The AAP leader's counsel had then alleged that Sisodia was manhandled by security personnel during his production on May 23. He complained that the police forcibly pushed Sisodia into the van while he was interacting with the media. The court had raised questions on the role of media and said that a ban may be imposed on media if needed. It stated that apart from family members Sisodia would not be allowed to meet anyone.
Next, Sisodia was asked as to whether he would like to appear in person or via video conference. To which, Sisodia replied that he wanted to appear in court physically. But, the Delhi Police filed an application seeking presence via video conference. The court had also asked authorities to produce CCTV footage of May 23 incident when the AAP leader was allegedly heckled at the next hearing.
In its July 3 order, the high court had noted that this matter has to be visited with a different approach as a deep-rooted conspiracy involving huge loss of public funds has been alleged. The high court judge Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma observed that the AAP leader has not been able to pass the triple test for bail under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), in which the court has to examine whether an accused is likely to either tamper with evidence or flee from justice. Justice Sharma had also denied bail to businessmen Abhishek Boinpally, Benoy Babu, and Vijay Nair, who are c-accused in the money laundering case lodged by ED.
