Supreme Court grants bail to AAP leader Manish Sisodia after 17 months in Delhi Excise Policy case
Manish Sisodia bail case: In a major development, the Supreme Court on August 9 granted bail to jailed AAP leader Manish Sisodia. It will be a travesty of justice if Sisodia is sent back to trial court again, the Supreme Court said.
A bench of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan, which had reserved its judgment on Sisodia's pleas on August 6, delivered the verdict. Sisodia, former deputy CM of Delhi, had sought bail because he had been in custody for 17 months and the trial against him had not yet started.
The case pertains to the AAP leader's pleas seeking bail in the corruption and money laundering cases linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam. The CBI and the ED opposed his bail plea.
Sisodia was arrested by the CBI on 26 February 2023, for his alleged involvement in the purported irregularities in the excise policy.
The ED arrested him in the money laundering case stemming from the CBI FIR on March 9, 2023. Sisodia resigned from the Delhi cabinet on February 28, 2023.
During the proceedings, the apex court questioned the CBI and ED about when they anticipate concluding these cases, given the extensive investigations. The court noted that there were 493 witnesses across both cases and inquired how much longer the trial would take to complete.
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