Excise policy case: Delhi court extends judicial custody of AAP leader Manish Sisodia till May 15

The court has set May 15 as the date for further arguments regarding the framing of charges against the accused in the case.

Earlier on May 2, Manish Sisodia moved the Delhi High Court challenging the trial court order refusing him bail in the excise policy case being investigated by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Advocates Rajat Bharadwaj and Mohd Irshad mentioned the matter before the bench led by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and requested for urgent listing of the matter.

On April 30, the Rouse Avenue Court dismissed the bail petitions of Sisodia for the second time in the case and said, "...This court is not inclined to admit the Applicant to Bail, either regular or interim, at this stage. The application under consideration is accordingly dismissed,"

Sisodia has been in custody since February 26, 2023, after arrest by the CBI. Thereafter, he was arrested by the ED. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and BRS Leader K Kavitha were also arrested in the excise policy case.

The ED and the CBI had alleged that irregularities were committed while modifying the excise policy, undue favours were extended to licence holders, the licence fee was waived or reduced and the L-1 licence was extended without the competent authority's approval.

The beneficiaries diverted "illegal" gains to the accused officials and made false entries in their books of account to evade detection, the probe agencies said.

As per the allegations, the excise department had decided to refund the earnest money deposit of about Rs 30 crore to a successful tenderer against the set rules.

Even though there was no enabling provision, a waiver on tendered licence fees was allowed from December 28, 2021, to January 27, 2022, due to COVID-19, the probe agency said and there was an alleged loss of Rs 144.36 crore to the exchequer. (ANI)