Excise policy scam: Delhi Court extends Sisodia’s remand till 22 March

On Friday, the Rouse Avenue Court extended former deputy CM Manish Sisodia’s ED remand by 5 more days in connection with the money laundering case pertaining to alleged irregularities in the framing and implementation of the excise policy of GNCTD.

While seeking further remand of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader in the excise policy case, the ED told the court that various crucial information was revealed while Manish Sisodia was in custody.

The agency also stated that, in light of the findings, it has summoned the then Excise Commissioner Rahul Singh for 20 March (he was originally summoned for 15 March but has requested a four-day adjournment due to a viral infection and fever).

According to the ED, summons have already been issued to C Aravind, the then Secretary of Deputy CM, for March 21, Dinesh Arora for March 17, and Amit Arora for March 20.

The above findings and individuals must be confronted with Manish Sisodia, according to the ED. Sisodia’s ED remand period was extended by Special Judge MK Nagpal on Friday until 22 March, 2023.

Senior Advocate Mohit Mathur appeared for Sisodia and opposed the ED’s remand application, arguing that personal liberty is paramount. “The court is the keeper of our liberty. My liberty is now in your hands. They only had four people to confront during their seven-day detention.

“Confrontation does not necessitate custody,” the lawyer added. In court for the ED, Advocate Zohaib Hossain stated that massive amounts of mail and mobile data are being forensically analysed. The mobile phone, which Sisodia had been using for a long time, was changed the day LG wrote to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Furthermore ED Counsel claimed that the statements were validated by the recovery of data from the arrestee’s computer. ED stated that mobile data, email data, and cloud data were also received during the interpretation.