In the Delhi excise policy case, the Supreme Court adjourned the hearing on Manish Sisodia’s bail plea after Justice Sanjay Kumar recused himself due to personal reasons. The matter was scheduled for July 11 before a bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Sanjay Karol, and Sanjay Kumar. Another bench will now hear Sisodia’s plea on July 15, as senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi urged urgency, citing the pending trials by the CBI and ED related to alleged irregularities in Delhi’s excise policy for 2021-22. Sisodia, former Delhi deputy chief minister, faces charges of corruption and money laundering in the case.
Delhi excise policy case: The matter was placed for hearing on July 11 before a bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna, Sanjay Karol and Sanjay Kumar. The Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned the hearing on a bail plea of former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in the Delhi excise policy case to next week as one of the judges justice Sanjay Kumar recused from hearing the case. The matter was placed for hearing on July 11 before a bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna, Sanjay Karol and Sanjay Kumar. The bench said another bench in which justice Sanjay Kumar is not a member will take up Manish Sisodia’s two separate pleas for reviving his bail petitions in cases filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the excise policy scam case.
As soon as the matter was taken up for hearing, Justice Khanna said, “Our brother has some difficulty. He will not like to hear this matter for personal reasons.”
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the Aadmi Aadmi Party, requested the bench to list the matter urgently, saying time is of essence. He said the trial has not yet commenced in both the cases. The apex court bench said another bench will take it up on July 15.
On June 4, the Supreme Court had refused to entertain the bail pleas of Manish Sisodia in cases lodged by the CBI and the ED in connection with the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam.
The former Delhi deputy chief minister had earlier moved the top court challenging the Delhi high court’s May 21 verdict which dismissed his bail pleas in the cases probed by the two central agencies.
The AAP leader had challenged in the high court a trial court’s April 30 order by which it had rejected his bail applications in the cases involving alleged irregularities in the formulation and execution of the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy for 2021-22. On October 30 last year, the Supreme Court had denied him bail in the corruption and money laundering cases related to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy, saying the accusation of “windfall gains” of ₹338 crore to wholesale liquor dealers was “tentatively supported” by evidence.
Manish Sisodia was arrested by the CBI on February 26, 2023, for his alleged role in the liquor policy case. The ED arrested him in the money laundering case stemming from the CBI FIR on March 9, 2023.
He resigned from the Delhi cabinet on February 28, 2023.
