Supreme Court Issues Notice To CBI, ED On Sisodia's Bail Pleas In Delhi Liquor Policy Case

The petitions filed by Sisodia challenged separate orders of the Delhi High Court that refused to grant him bail in the cases filed by CBI and ED.

Former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia ( Image Source :PTI )

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the CBI and ED on the plea by former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia seeking bail in the Delhi excise policy case. The Supreme Court will consider on July 28 whether Sisodia can be released on interim bail.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Bela M Trivedi and Ujjal Bhuyan took into consideration the submission of senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Sisodia, that his wife Seema Sisodia was suffering from an extreme medical condition and was hospitalised.

The petitions filed by Sisodia challenged separate orders of the Delhi High Court that refused to grant him bail in the cases filed by CBI and ED.

Earlier this week, a bench headed by CJI DY Chandrachud had agreed to list the special leave petitions after senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Sisodia, sought urgent listing of the matter.

Sisodia, widely seen as Arvind Kejriwal's No 2, was arrested by the CBI on February 26 after the agency alleged that many ineligible vendors were awarded licences by the Delhi government in exchange for bribes.

The liquor policy, introduced in November 2022, was withdrawn eight months later amid allegations of corruption.

Sisodia has been in custody since then. The ED arrested him in a money laundering case stemming from the CBI FIR on March 9. Sisodia resigned from the Delhi cabinet on February 28.

Sisodia moved the Supreme Court after his bail pleas were denied by the Delhi High Court.

On July 3, the Delhi High Court had declined him bail in the money laundering case, holding that the charges against him were "very serious in nature".

On May 30, the court had denied him bail in the CBI case, saying Sisodia was a "high-profile" person who had the potential to influence the witnesses.

In its order, the High Court had said since Sisodia was at the "helm of affairs" when the alleged excise policy scam took place, he cannot say he had no role to play.

Earlier this month, the Enforcement Directorate said it attached assets worth Rs 52.24 crore belonging to Sisodia, his wife and some other accused persons in connection with the case. Of the total amount, assets worth Rs 81 lakh of Sisodia were attached, which included two immovable assets and bank deposits worth Rs 11.49 lakh.