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The Rouse Avenue Court on Tuesday heard arguments on the bail application of former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.
His counsel, Mohit Mathur, said that even after 11 months of completion of the investigation, the agency is not able to say that the alleged bribe money reached Manish Sisodia. Sisodia is an accused in ED and CBI cases related to the Delhi Excise Policy. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has also been arrested in this case by the ED. Special judge Kaveri Baweja heard the arguments advanced by senior advocate Mohit Mathur for Manish Sisodia. The matter has been listed on April 6 for hearing arguments by the ED. CBI's public prosecutor was not available today. Therefore the court listed the matter for ED's arguments. Senior advocate Mohit Mathur submitted that the 5 per cent and 12 per cent difference and the excess amount of 7 per cent earned by the wholesalers are proceeds of crime, according to the agency. He further said, "My contentions remain the same -- no one has shown anywhere that there is a loss to the exchequer. There is no loss to any private consumer. Reports showed that higher revenue was generated. I've been in custody for 13 months. This period was Babu's bail as well." The Supreme Court has preserved my liberties to approach this Court, said senior advocate. The order passed by the Supreme Court is 6 months old. The agency should've completed its investigation. The senior advocate said, "The delay in the trial is not attributable to me (the accused). I've never misused the liberties granted to me." "The other accused, Benoy Babu, got bail on grounds of delay. he faced incarceration for 13 months," Mohit Mathur submitted. The counsel further said that I (Sisodia) was satisfied with the triple test for bail. I'm not influential anymore. (Not the deputy CM.) "As per the Supreme Court, the trial should be completed in 6-8 months. Six months have passed. We are already delayed as the arguments on charge have not started yet," added the councel. The counsel further said, "As far as the triple test is concerned, I fulfilled that. I am not a minister anymore. All the tests for bail are satisfied." (ANI)
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