New Delhi: Once the virtual treasurer in his capacity as the Deputy Chief Minister and the Finance Minister, jailed AAP leader Manish Sisodia is facing a financial crunch with the investigation agencies freezing his bank account in the case related to alleged irregularities in the now revoked Delhi exicise policy, sources said.
According to the sources, Sisodia, who once held the portfolios of as many as 18 ministries in the Delhi government, does not even have money for his wife's treatment and household expenses. The reason for this is that Sisodia's bank account has been frozen by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for being accused in the alleged excise policy scam case.
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Sources said that Sisodia has become dependent on the court's order to withdraw money from his own bank account for the expenses of his house and for the treatment of his ailing wife. The ex-Delhi Deputy Chief Minister is lodged in Delhi's Tihar Jail for the last five months in the alleged excise scam case. On July 31, Sisodia filed a petition in the Rouse Avenue Court seeking permission from the court to withdraw money from the bank account.
On this petition of Sisodia, the Rouse Avenue Court had issued a notice to the ED and sought an answer. Special CBI Judge MK Nagpal listed the matter for today on Aug. 4. The court is expected to decide how much money Sisodia can withdraw from the bank account. Earlier, in April, the court had allowed Sisodia to withdraw certain amount of money from the bank for his wife's treatment and household expenses.
Sisodia's advocate Mohammad Irshad said that the bank is preventing his client from withdrawing money required for medical and other needs without a written order from the court. Pertinently, the Supreme Court on Friday deferred the hearing over Sisodia's plea seeking temporary medical bail to September.
The apex court will hear the bail for temporary bail along with his plea for regular bail in the Delhi excise policy case.
