New Delhi, April 30 -- The Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi has once again dismissed the bail applications of Manish Sisodia, the city's former Deputy Chief Minister and a prominent leader of the Aam Aadmi Party. The bail pleas were connected to ongoing investigations into the controversial Delhi liquor excise policy for the year 2021-22, which has since been scrapped.

Sisodia, who is facing charges in both money laundering and corruption cases lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), remains in judicial custody. The court's decision marks another setback for Sisodia, who has previously seen his bail requests denied by both the trial court and higher courts, including the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court. His review and curative petitions have also been dismissed. During the proceedings, CBI prosecutor Pankaj Gupta argued strongly against granting bail to Sisodia, citing his significant political influence and the risk of tampering with evidence or hindering the ongoing investigation. Gupta emphasized that the allegations suggest Sisodia played a key role in orchestrating the excise policy without proper authorization, allegedly to benefit certain licensees after the tender process.

The ED's charges complement the CBI's accusations, claiming the policy was part of a broader conspiracy to unjustly enrich certain private entities by guaranteeing them a 12% profit margin in the wholesale liquor business, a provision that was reportedly not documented in the official minutes from the meetings of the Group of Ministers. Additionally, the ED alleges coordination between Sisodia, former AAP communications chief Vijay Nair, and other members of what they refer to as the 'South Group', to provide extraordinary profit margins to wholesalers. These actions were purportedly in the interest of both Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Sisodia. The refusal to grant bail was initially made by Special Judge MK Nagpal last year and reaffirmed on subsequent occasions, reflecting the courts' stringent stance on high-profile cases involving allegations of corruption and money laundering.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.