Delhi Court reserves verdict on Manish Sisodia's bail plea

A Delhi court on Saturday reserved its judgement on the bail plea filed by former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who was arrested last year in connection with the Delhi excise policy case. .Sisodia has sought bail in both the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) cases filed against him..Special Judge (PC Act) Kaveri Baweja of the Rouse Avenue Court said that the order will be pronounced on April 30..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.Pertinently, Sisodia was earlier denied bail by the Supreme Court 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..Public Prosecutor Pankaj Gupta appeared for CBI today and argued that Sisodia does not satisfy the triple test for bail. Gupta said that Sisodia in an influential politician and it was on his instance that the other co-accused committed the offence. "This is a clear case of destruction of evidence. He is the main accused in the case. It was based on his directions that other accused committed the offence. Documents and evidence in the case are still missing," Gupta said. He also cited former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to say that corruption in the cancer for the society. .Sisodia's lawyer Vivek Jain said that he will give a written note for his rejoinder in the case. .The ED was represented by its special counsel, Zoheb Hossain..In the previous hearing, Sisodia's lawyer Vivek Jain had objected to repeated adjournments in the case. Jain had pointed out that Sisodia has remained in jail for over a year now following his arrest in the Delhi excise policy case 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," Jain argued..Meanwhile, the ED and CBI have 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. .Sanjay Singh first AAP leader to get bail in Delhi Excise Policy case; what is the status of other accused?