The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain Former deputy Delhi CM and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia's bail plea in connection with the alleged money laundering in the Delhi Liquor Policy case. However, the top court said that Sisodia can approach the Supreme Court again for bail after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) files final chargesheet for which it set the timeline of 3-4 weeks.
A vacation bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Sandeep Mehta disposed of Sisodia's pleas seeking regular as well as interim bail. However, the bench obtained a written undertaking from ED that it shall file the final chargesheer in the case within three to four weeks
While hearing Manish Sisodia's bail plea the top court observed that the delay in commencement of trial was prima facie not attributable to Sisodia. The trial court while denying bail had accused Sisodia of deliberately causing delay in the trial. However, the top court also noted that delay in such cases may not be attributable to either side, given the sheer volume of documents.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for ED gave an undertaking that the prosecuting agencies would file the final chargesheeet/complaint in the coming 3-4 weeks.
Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi appearing for Sisodia told the court that Sisodia has already suffered 15 months of pre-trial incarceration. He made a case that the court should ensure that Sisodia is not subjected to prolonged incarceration even before trial commences.
Singhvi argued that the October 2023 Supreme Court verdict dismissing Sisodia's bail plea had also said that Sisodia can approach the court for bail if trial is protracted and proceeds at snail's place.
Singhvi reminded the vacation bench that bench headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna while denying bail to Sisodia in October 2022 observed, "We are dismissing the application for bail, but we have made one pointed observation which is that they have assured that the trial will be concluded within six to eight months. So within three months, if the trial proceeds sloppily or slowly, he'll be entitled to file an application for bail".