Amid ongoing controversy revolving around the Delhi excise policy case, the former deputy Chief Minister and Aam Admi Party leader (AAP) Manoj Sisodia on Thursday, took his case to the Delhi High Court, seeking bail after the trial court denied him release in the excise policy investigation led by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Attorneys Rajat Bharadwaj and Mohd Irshad brought up the issue before the bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan, urging for an expedited listing of the case. Noting the submissions, the bench said, “Let the concerned judge go through the file if your papers are in order by 12.30 pm today, we will have it tomorrow.”
On April 30, the Rouse Avenue Court dismissed the bail petitions of Sisodia for the second time in the case and said, “…This court is not inclined to admit the Applicant to Bail, either regular or interim, at this stage. The application under consideration is accordingly dismissed,”
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In addition to Sisodia, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and BRS Leader K Kavitha were also arrested in connection with the excise policy case. The ED and the CBI have alleged irregularities in the modification of the excise policy, granting undue favors to license holders, waiving or reducing license fees, and extending the L-1 license without appropriate authority approval.
Special Judge Kaveri Baweja also said, “It is apparent that the Applicant individually, and along with different accused have been filing one or the other application /making oral submissions frequently, some of them frivolous, that too on a piecemeal basis, apparently as a concerted effort for accomplishing the shared purpose of causing delay in the matter.”
The court also emphasized that the duration of Benoy Babu’s detention cannot be compared to that of the applicant, Manish Sisodia, especially considering the findings outlined earlier in this order, where Sisodia himself acknowledged the sluggish progress of the case. Sisodia has been in custody since February 26, 2023, initially arrested by the CBI and subsequently by the ED.
Additionally, despite the absence of a legal provision, a waiver on tendered license fees was permitted from December 28, 2021, to January 27, 2022, citing COVID-19 circumstances, resulting in an alleged loss of Rs 144.36 crore to the exchequer.
The probe agencies have alleged that the beneficiaries of the scheme funneled “illegal” profits to the accused officials and falsified entries in their accounting books to avoid detection. According to the accusations, the excise department decided to refund approximately Rs 30 crore of earnest money deposit to a successful tenderer against established rules.
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