New Delhi: The High Court here on Monday rejected the bail plea of AAP leader Manish Sisodia, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on March 9 in a money laundering case related to alleged irregularities in the excise duty policy of the Delhi government. Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma refused to grant relief to the former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister, saying he has failed to pass the triple test for bail, in which the court has to see whether the accused has the potential to flee from justice, tamper with evidence, There is a possibility. or influence witnesses.
Apart from dismissing Sisodia’s plea, the Delhi High Court also denied bail to businessmen Abhishek Boinapalli, Benoy Babu and Vijay Nair, who are co-accused in the money laundering case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arising out of the alleged scam .
Detailed orders are awaited.
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Pronouncing the order on Sisodia’s bail plea, the high court said it has perused the order of a special court which had earlier rejected his bail plea and did not find any infirmity or illegality in the judgement.
“The petitioner (Sisodia) is not entitled for bail and accordingly the petition is dismissed,” it said.
Justice Sharma said, the special court has passed a reasoned order based on the material available on record.
Former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister and Excise Minister Sisodia was first arrested by the CBI on February 26 for his alleged role in the scam and has been in custody since then. He resigned from the Delhi cabinet on 28 February.
The High Court has refused to grant him bail in the CBI case on May 30 itself.
He was arrested on March 9 in a case registered by the ED and is currently in judicial custody.
The high court had on June 2 reserved its order on the bail plea of Sisodia, who has sought bail on various grounds, including the deteriorating health of his wife, who is suffering from multiple sclerosis.
The ED has also opposed the bail plea of other accused along with Sisodia.
According to the CBI and ED probing the cases against Sisodia, irregularities were committed while revising the excise duty policy and undue favors were extended to the license holders.
Sisodia had challenged the March 31 order of the trial court, which had rejected his bail plea, saying that prima facie he was the “architect” of the alleged scam.
The court had said that he played a “most important and significant role” in the criminal conspiracy relating to alleged advance payments of Rs 90-100 crore to him and his associates in the Delhi government.
The Delhi government implemented the policy on November 17, 2021 but scrapped it in late September 2022 amid allegations of corruption.
On 30 May, the court rejected Sisodia’s bail plea in the excise policy scam being probed by the CBI, saying he is an influential person who can influence witnesses, who are mostly public servants, and against him The allegations are of a very serious nature. ,