Delhi’s Rouse Avenue court on Friday denied bail to former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who is in judicial custody in a money laundering case pertaining to now-scrapped excise policy scam since February. The court said evidence collected during investigation spoke volumes of Mr. Sisodia’s involvement in commission of the said offence.
Special judge M.K. Nagpal said: “….. This court is not inclined to grant bail to the applicant in this case of economic offences having serious repercussions upon the general public and society at large as the evidence collected during investigation speaks volumes of his involvement in commission of the said offence. Therefore, the present bail application of accused Manish Sisodia is being dismissed.”
The court had earlier dismissed Mr. Sisodia’s bail application in the case lodged by the CBI on March 31, 2023. In the order, it has maintained that Mr. Sisodia was not a flight risk, but this court was of the prima facie view that the possibility of destruction of or tampering with the evidence by him could not be ruled out. In its earlier order, the court also said that as per allegations made by prosecution and the evidence collected in support thereof so far, the applicant can ‘prima facie’ be held to be the architect of the said criminal conspiracy.
