The Supreme Court on October 17 reserved its judgment on pleas for regular bail filed by former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who is facing money laundering charges in the liquor policy scam case.
A Bench led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna asked how an offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) would be made out in the absence of a bribery charge against Mr. Sisodia, who is represented by senior advocate A.M. Singhvi.
“If the charge of a bribe is not part of the predicate offence, it may be difficult for you to prove a case under the PMLA. If you had said that the bribe of ₹ 2.2 crore was paid for tweaking the policy, yes. But you cannot create a predicate offence in your PMLA case. We cannot go on an assumption,” Justice Khanna addressed Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, who appeared for the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
In an earlier hearing, the court had orally observed that the ED had to establish an unbroken chain of evidence linking Mr. Sisodia with the liquor lobby.
It had said that no offence under PMLA could be made out unless proof was there to show former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister was actively connected with proceeds of crime.
“You have to establish a chain. The money has to flow from the liquor lobby to the person. We know it is difficult to establish the chain as everything is done undercover… but that is where your competence lies,” Justice Khanna had told Mr. Raju.
Justice Khanna had noted that a policy may be changed to generate money following pressure from a particular lobby, but provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) would be attracted only after the proceeds of a crime, in this case bribery, were given or paid.
Mr. Raju had said that Mr. Sisodia was “instrumental” in the making of a policy which led to bribes. “He should not have allowed the policy,” the law officer had said.
Mr. Sisodia was arrested on February 26 for alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 following several rounds of questioning.
In March, the trial court had dismissed Mr. Sisodia’s bail plea saying he was prima facie the “architect” of the alleged scam and had played the “most important and vital role” in the criminal conspiracy related to the alleged payment of advance kickbacks of nearly ₹100 crore meant for him and his colleagues in the Delhi government.
