Manish Sisodia, accused in the Delhi liquor scam case and former Deputy CM of Delhi, has received a big blow from the Supreme Court. The court has rejected his bail plea. The bench of Justice Sanjeev Khanna and Justice SVN Bhatti, while rejecting the bail plea of Sisodia, said that a money trail of Rs 336 crore has been proved in this case. The court has also directed to complete the trial in 6 to 8 months.
The Supreme Court, while rejecting the bail plea of Manish Sisodia, said, 'We had said that some aspects are still doubtful, but the aspect of transfer of Rs 338 crore is almost being proved. Therefore, the bail application is being rejected. But we want to say one more thing that the investigating agency has assured us that the trial will be completed in 6 to 8 months. So if in three months it seems that the pace of the trial is slow, then the petition for bail can be filed again.'
The Supreme Court had reserved its decision after the completion of the hearing on Manish Sisodia's bail plea on October 17. Then Sisodia's senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi had said in the court that the investigating agency does not have any evidence directly related to Sisodia in this entire episode.
The Supreme Court on October 17 had told the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that if the bribe allegedly paid to change the Delhi excise policy did not form part of 'proceeds of crime', then money laundering charges against Sisodia, filed by the federal agency, could be proved to be difficult.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had arrested Sisodia on February 26 for his alleged role in the excise policy 'scam'. He has been in custody since then. ED had arrested Sisodia after interrogating him in Tihar jail on March 9 in a money laundering case based on the CBI FIR. Sisodia had resigned from the Delhi Cabinet on 28 February.
The High Court had, on May 30, refused to grant him bail in the CBI case, saying that being the Deputy Chief Minister and Excise Minister, he was an "influential" person and could influence witnesses. On July 3, the High Court had refused to grant him bail in the money laundering case, saying that the allegations against him were of 'very serious nature'.
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