Justice PV Sanjay Kumar of Supreme Court recuses from hearing Manish Sisodia bail plea

Supreme Court judge Justice PV Sanjay Kumar on Thursday recused from hearing a bail plea filed by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia in the money laundering case filed against him in the Delhi excise policy case [Manish Sisodia vs Directorate of Enforcement]..Consequently, his bail hearing was deferred today. A Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Sanjay Karol and Kumar were slated to hear the matter when it informed Sisodia's counsel of the development."Dr (Abhishek Manu) Singhvi, my brother Justice Kumar will not like to hear this matter for personal reasons," Justice Khanna said.The Court proceeded to re-list the case for the week commencing July 15..Manish Sisodia has been in custody since February 26, 2023, in connection with the Delhi excise policy case, being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as well as the Enforcement Directorate (ED).The case involves allegations that Delhi government officials tweaked the excise policy to benefit certain liquor sellers in exchange for bribes that were used to fund the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) elections in Goa..Sisodia has filed several bail applications in the matter to no avail.In May, the Delhi High Court agreed with a trial court's April 30 decision to reject one such bail plea in both the ED and CBI cases.In June, the Supreme Court also refused to grant him bail in the money laundering case against him, after the ED said it would file a chargesheet by July 3. The Supreme Court added that Sisodia would be at liberty to revive his bail plea after the ED's chargesheet was filed.This was the second round of litigation by Sisodia for bail.His first round of bail applications was rejected in 2023. His bail plea in the CBI case was rejected by a trial court on March 31, 2023. On April 28, 2023, the trial court rejected his bail application in the ED case as well.Both the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court upheld these trial court decisions later that year. At the time, the Supreme Court added that Sisodia could file for bail again if the trial progressed at a slow pace.