Delhi Liquor Policy Case: Manish Sisodia Sent To ED Custody Till March 17

The ED, which is probing the money laundering angle, arrested Sisodia on Thursday in Tihar jail after questioning him for nearly an hour.

AAP leader and former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia being brought to Rouse Avenue Court ( Image Source :PTI )

A Delhi court on Friday sent AAP leader and former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia to ED custody till March 17 in a money laundering case related to the government's excise policy. Special judge MK Nagpal did not turn up to read the order. The information was sent to the lawyers through the court staff, ABP sources said.

The ED arrested Sisodia on Thursday in Tihar jail, just a day before his bail hearing in the case lodged by CBI, which is investigating the corruption angle in the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy for 2021-22. The bail plea in the CBI case will now be heard on March 21.

While seeking Sisodia's custody for 10 days, the ED said the AAP leader had a direct role in the alleged scam and needed to interrogate him to identify the modus operandi and to confront other persons who have been summoned.

READ | From K Kavitha To Vijay Nair — What ED Said In Court Seeking Sisodia’s Remand

The federal agency alleged that Sisodia was not cooperating in the investigation, an argument based on which the CBI had earlier sought the AAP leader's custody.

ED's counsel Zoheb Hossain also claimed that Sisodia destroyed his phone, an important piece of evidence in the investigation.

The ED told the court the policy was framed without accepting the views of the expert committee to benefit certain individuals. The ED counsel said it had evidence against the senior AAP leader in the case.

The agency said the policy was framed in a way to ensure that select wholesalers received a profit margin of 12 per cent, which was six per cent more than what it should have been.

"We have material that this was done at the behest of the arrested accused (Sisodia). There was also a violation of the system fixed for giving license for the sale of liquor. Cartels were formed. Some selected people benefited from it," the ED said.

The ED told court that Sisodia's aide Vijay Nair "coordinated the whole conspiracy" along with the 'South Group', which comprises Telangana MLC K Kavitha, while businessman Dinesh Arora was coordinating kickbacks. The agency said the 'South Group' became a serious stakeholder in the excise business in Delhi. 

The ED also read out a statement by former auditor of BRS MLC Kavitha, Gorantla Buchibabu. "He has disclosed that there was a political understanding between Sisodia and KCR’s daughter. She also met Vijay Nair," the statement read.

The claims of the ED counsel were contested by a battery of lawyers representing Sisodia -- senior advocates Dayan Krishnan, Mohit Mathur and Siddharth Aggarwal.

Sisodia's lawyers said the excise policy was accepted by the Lieutenant Governor who must have examined it before giving his approval.

Sisodia's lawyer said ED's claim was made with "malafied intention" and the case was based on "hearsay". He said the maximum punishment in the case was only seven years and that is why bail should be given and not custody.

"It has become a fashion these days that the agencies take arrests as a right. It's time for the courts to come down heavily on this sense of entitlement," Sisodia's lawyer Dayan Krishna said in the court, Live Law reported.

"The CBI is investigating a predicate offence. What the ED stated today is in fact the CBI's case...Without the proceeds of the alleged crime, the ED can't start investigation under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act," Krishna further said.