The Supreme Court on Tuesday concluded hearing arguments in bail plea moved by former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and reserved verdict. Sisodia has been in jail for over 17 months in Delhi Liquor Policy case.
A bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan heard the matter. Sisodia moved the top court again after the Delhi High Court rejected his bail pleas in ED and CBI cases.
On Monday, Senior Advocate Abhishek M Singhvi appearing for Sisodia argued that in the October, 2023, by the Supreme Court which rejected bail to Sisodia, the court had expressed concern over Sisodia's long incarceration. And since then, the period of 6-8 months has expired, but the trial has not even started.
Singhvi further argued that the delay in trial should be read along the question of bail under Section 45 PMLA. "When trial is not proceeding for reasons not attributable to accused, the court, unless there are good reasons, may well be guided to exercise the power to grant bail..." he said.
Singhvi further accused ED of concealing documents and said that the probe agency has filed 25000 pages of documents and has over 162 witnesses.
ED however opposed bail for Sisodia and said that the delay in trial is attributable to Sisodia as he kept filing application in court. However, the top court remarked that none of those could be called frivilous as court allowed them.
Justice Viswanathan aksed ED to realistically tell court, "when do you see the end of the tunnel considering there are 493 witnesses?"
ASG SV Raju appearing for ED said that speedy trial can't be stuck in a straight jacket formula. "How can delay be attributed to me? I never said don't frame charges, or don't proceed because further investigation is pending. Rather, I filed an application for expediting trial."
Singhvi at this point said that the arguments on charge have not yet started. "They say digital devices are so voluminous that one copy would take 70-80 days to make. Thereafter, inspection will happen. We are encroaching upon eternity, not time."
Manish Sisodia's bail plea in liquor policy case was re-listed before a new bench of the Supreme Court, following recusal of Justice Sanjiv Kumar.
The Delhi High Court on May 22 rejected the bail plea moved by Manish Sisodia in the ED and CBI cases in the alleged Delhi Liquor Policy scam. The high court while rejecting his bail plea observed that Sisodia fabricated and manufactured public opinion to suit his goal and subverted the process of making the excise policy by deviating from the expert committee report constituted by him. The court made scathing observations and said that Sisodia betrayed betrayed democratic principles by breaking public's trust.
The court took a view that Sisodia breached the public's trust and misused his powers as the Minister in the Delhi government in drafting of the now scrapped Delhi Excise policy.
A bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma of high court while pronouncing the verdict said that the high court can apply its own mind to decide the bail on merits in addition to the condition of "delay in trial" imposed by the Supreme Court's order in October 2023.
While pronouncing the verdict the high court also took a prima facie view and said that Sisodia manufactured and fabricated feedback from the public to draft the now scrapped Delhi Excise Policy which was actually intended to benefit members of the south group. The bench also observed that he misused his powers as the Delhi Minister to manipulate the policy as he wished.
The high court termed Sisodia's actions in framing Delhi Liquor Policy a great betrayal of democratic principles.