In a setback to former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, the Supreme Court on Monday denied him bail in the corruption and money laundering cases related to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam, saying the accusation of "windfall gains" of Rs 338 crore to wholesale liquor dealers was "tentatively supported" by evidence.
Sisodia's arrest, one of the high-profile actions against an opposition leader, came after that of Satyendar Jain, Delhi's then health minister, in June last year.
The Supreme Court on Friday said the trial court's finding that Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia was responsible for delaying the trial in the Delhi excise policy cases was not supported by the record.
Sisodia was arrested Sunday over alleged irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22.
Delhi former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia is now lodged in Tihar's jail after Rouse Avenue Court on Monday sent him to judicial custody till March 20 in connection with the excise policy case.
Sisodia hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he only thinks of destabilising governments in non-BJP states by poaching MLAs.
Sisodia is presently lodged in Tihar jail number 1, where he stays in his separate cell shared with two more inmates, who are lodged in non-heinous cases, official sources said.
A day after accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of "hatching a conspiracy to assassinate" Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, fearing poll defeats in Gujarat and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, his deputy Manish Sisodia Friday demanded a probe into it and said a complaint will also be submitted to the Election Commission.
Delhi ministers Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain on Tuesday resigned from the Cabinet, amid corruption allegations against them.
The CBI had sought three more days of custody of Sisodia after producing him before the court on expiry of his three-day remand granted earlier.
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs conveyed to Delhi's Lt Governor's office granting of sanction to prosecute Sisodia under Section 17 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 (powers to police for investigating a public servant).
Kejriwal said the CBI raid at Sisodia's house was the result of their good performance which is being appreciated globally.
While extending support to his deputy, Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal said Sisodia was going to be arrested in a bid to stop him from campaigning in Gujarat.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia holds as many as 18 of the total 33 departments, including education, finance and home.
The DP World Players Championship, with a prize pool of Rs 1 crore, is set to begin at the Classic Golf & Country Club, featuring 130 professionals including Veer Ahlawat, Om Prakash Chouhan, and Manu Gandas.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) faces a significant setback as several of its Rajya Sabha MPs, including key figures like Raghav Chadha and Sandeep Pathak, resign from the party, with some reportedly joining the BJP.
The CBI had on Sunday deferred his questioning after he sought time from the agency citing the Delhi government's ongoing budget exercise.
Sisodia said he will fully cooperate with the CBI that has summoned him for questioning in the excise policy case.
The CBI refuted Sisodia's claims as 'mischievous and misleading', saying his statements were is 'an attempt to divert attention from the ongoing investigation in Delhi Excise Policy case'.
The case has been registered in the court of chief judicial magistrate, Kamrup Rural on Thursday and listed on July 22 for initial deposition by the complainant, he said.
The high court said he was a very powerful and influential person within the power corridors of the Delhi government as he had the responsibility of 18 portfolios in the city dispensation.
Sisodia is scheduled to appear before the chief judicial magistrate's court in Guwahati on November 19 in connection with the original case filed by Sarma in June.
The judge had reserved the order after hearing arguments on Sisodia's plea seeking relief claiming that his custody was no longer required for investigation.
Sisodia on Sunday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday met the family of the woman who was killed after being dragged by a car and said efforts will be made to provide employment to one of her kin.
The Delhi BJP, however, refuted the allegations, saying their protest was peaceful. The Delhi Police also said the allegations that the gate of the deputy CM's residence was damaged or broken are 'incorrect' and a case has been registered under appropriate sections in the matter.
The AAP will make the audio recording public "when the time comes"
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has claimed that CBI officials will come to check his bank locker on Tuesday and said the agency sleuths will not find anything in it.
Voting for the Delhi Assembly elections began on Wednesday, with prominent leaders like President Droupadi Murmu, Union ministers S Jaishankar and Hardeep Singh Puri, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, and Delhi Chief Minister Atishi casting their ballots early in the day. Other notable figures who participated in the electoral process included Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, AAP leader and former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva, Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora, and Delhi Chief Electoral Officer R Alice Vaz. The election is a triangular contest between the ruling AAP, BJP, and Congress, with the AAP aiming for a third consecutive term. Polling is underway at 13,766 stations across Delhi's 70 assembly constituencies to decide the fate of 699 candidates. The results will be announced on February 8.
Conspiracies will not break him or deter his resolve to continue to work for good education, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Friday as the CBI conducted raids at his residence and 20 other places.
The federal probe agency also made a fresh arrest in this case as it took into custody Hyderabad-based liquor businessman Arun Ramchandra Pillai, they said.
Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma allowed Sisodia to withdraw the interim bail applications.
With the arrest of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in the excise policy scam case, uncertainty looms over several critical Delhi government projects, including streetscaping and traffic decongestion plans, ahead of the G20 summit.
Sisodia claimed the agency did not find anything against him during previous raids and this time too it will be the same as he has done nothing wrong.
Kejriwal's unexpected announcement kicked up a strong buzz over the names of his wife Sunita and his ministers Atishi and Gopal Rai as his possible replacement.
The Enforcement Directorate on Friday claimed before a Delhi court that Aam Aadmi Party leader and former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia was involved in "large scale destruction of digital evidence to impede investigation" into the Delhi excise policy case and had changed and destroyed 14 phones.
The Aam Aadmi Party has alleged that 80 per cent of its leaders were arrested by Delhi police since Sunday, and questioned whether anyone can be detained for more than 24 hours.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti, which reserved its verdict on two separate regular bail pleas of Sisodia in the corruption and money laundering cases, told the ED it cannot go by the assumption of bribe having been paid, and whatever protection an accused enjoys under law needs to be granted.
Sisodia said nothing was found against him during searches, and he would continue cooperating in the investigation.
The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday told a Delhi court the investigation in the money laundering probe against Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia in the alleged excise scam is at a "crucial' stage and it has found fresh evidence of his complicity.
