Delhi’s Rouse Avenue court dismissed AAP leader Manish Sisodia’s bail application in a money laundering case related to Delhi government’s excise policy. Special Judge MK Nagpal denied the bail and said that the stage was not fit to grant him bail after hearing arguments from Sisodia’s side.
Following the denial of Sisodia’s bail, AAP will file a petition with the Delhi High Court.
The AAP leader allegedly planted forged e-mails to prove there was popular support for the policy, according to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which had opposed the bail application because it was at a critical point in the inquiry. The agency added that it has discovered new proof of Sisodia’s involvement in the crime.
Sisodia and other AAP members are accused of giving some traders liquor permits in exchange for kickbacks. The authorities assert that changes were made to the excise policy and profit margins to benefit specific dealers from whom Sisodia and his associates got kickbacks. Following Delhi Lieutenant Governor (LG) VK Saxena’s recommendation for a CBI investigation, both the ED and CBI had opened cases.
The court had previously dismissed Sisodia’s bail application on 31 March in a corruption case that was being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). It said that Sisodia was “prima facie the architect” with regards to advance kickbacks of Rs 90-100 crore that were meant for him and his colleagues.
The CBI and the ED had arrested Sisodia for alleged corruption in the formulation and execution of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 and for laundering the money so generated.