Delhi court denies bail to Manish Sisodia in both CBI and ED cases on Delhi Excise Policy

A Delhi court on Tuesday denied bail to former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister and senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia in the Delhi excise policy case..Sisodia had sought bail in both the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) cases. Special Judge (PC Act) Kaveri Baweja today rejected his bail applications in both the cases. .A detailed order is awaited..Sisodia has been in custody since February 26, 2023. He is being probed by both the CBI and the ED in relation to the Delhi excise policy case.The case involves allegations that Delhi government officials had connived to grant liquor licenses to certain traders in exchange for bribes. The accused officials are alleged to have tweaked the excise policy to benefit certain liquor sellers..Notably, this is the second time that the trial court has rejected Sisodia's bail petitions. His first bail plea in the CBI case was rejected on March 31, 2023. On April 28, the trial court rejected his bail application in the ED case.The Delhi High Court upheld the trial court orders. .The matter then reached the Supreme Court which also denied him bail on October 30, 2023. At the time, however, the apex court had said he could file a fresh bail plea if the trial proceeded at a snail's pace..During the arguments in the case, Sisodia's lawyers had pointed out that he has remained in jail for over a year now even though the Supreme Court has said that the trial in the case should proceed expeditiously."This is going indefinitely. The Supreme Court has said... We moved the application in February. The case has been adjourned four times. The applicant has been in jail for over a year," advocate Vivek Jain had argued.Meanwhile, the ED and CBI maintained the delay in the trial was on account of Sisodia and other co-accused, and not the prosecution.Both the agencies have also said that Sisodia was the key person behind the formulation of the Delhi excise policy which favoured certain traders and that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) received kickbacks in return..Others arrested in the case include Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, AAP leader Sanjay Singh, AAP communications head Vijay Nair and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha.While Kejriwal and Kavitha presently remain in jail, Sanjay Singh was recently released on bail.