Manish Sisodia, a former deputy chief minister of Delhi and leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), who has been imprisoned for around 16 months in connection with an alleged liquor policy case, pleaded with the Supreme Court on Monday to consider his bail requests.
Sisodia’s senior attorney, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, argued before a bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud that the Supreme Court last month had given permission to resurrect the special leave petitions contesting the refusal of bail.
“The Supreme Court had granted liberty to list it after the 3rd of July. It is a revival because the court kept the matter in abeyance,” said Singhvi, adding that July 23 is shown as the tentative date of listing and an email seeking urgent listing of application seeking revival of bail pleas has also been sent to the registry.
At this, CJI Chandrachud said, “I will attend the email the moment we rise. It will not be deleted.”
The top AAP politician was previously denied bail by the Delhi High Court on the grounds that he did not meet the dual requirements set forth by the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, as well as the triple test for bail in the corruption case.
But a High Court bench led by Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma made it clear that he could keep seeing his sick wife once a week under the same conditions that the trial court had previously established.
Sisodia among key accused in Jail in Liquor Policy Case
The Supreme Court denied Sisodia bail in the liquor policy matter in 2023, and in March, it rejected his curative petitions challenging the dismissal of his review pleas.
In a ruling on October 30, 2023, the highest court refused Sisodia’s request for bail, although it allowed him to reapply in three months if the trial didn’t move quickly.
Sisodia was requesting regular bail a second time, but on April 30th, Special Judge Kaveri Baweja of Rouse Avenue Court denied her request. The trial court dismissed Sisodia’s allegations of undue delay when it decided to refuse bail, noting that the majority of the delays in the case procedures were caused by conduct that Sisodia himself was responsible for.
Meanwhile, Sisodia’s judicial custody in the excise policy matter under investigation by the ED was extended by a Delhi court last week to July 15.
