Excise policy case: Sisodia moves Delhi HC for bail in CBI case

Former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia Wednesday moved the Delhi High Court seeking bail in the excise policy scam case being probed by the CBI.

Sisodia's bail plea is listed for hearing before Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma on Thursday. On March 31, a trial court here had dismissed the senior AAP leader's bail petition, saying he was ''prima facie the architect'' and played the ''most important and vital role'' in the criminal conspiracy relating to alleged payment of advance kickbacks of around Rs 90-100 crore meant for him and his colleagues in the Delhi government.

The CBI had arrested Sisodia in connection with alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 on February 26, following several rounds of questioning.

While refusing to give relief to Sisodia, special CBI judge M K Nagpal had said he played the ''most important and vital role in the above criminal conspiracy'' and was deeply involved in formulation and implementation of the excise policy to ensure achievement of objectives of the said conspiracy.

''The payment of advance kickbacks of around Rs. 90-100 crore was meant for him and his other colleagues in the GNCTD and Rs 20-30 crores out of the above are found to have been routed through the co-accused Vijay Nair, Abhishek Boinpally and approver Dinesh Arora.....

''....certain provisions of the excise policy were permitted to be tweaked and manipulated by the applicant to protect and preserve the interests of South liquor lobby and to ensure repayment of the kickbacks to the said lobby,'' the trial court had observed in the 34-page-long order.

It had also said Sisodia's release may adversely affect the ongoing investigation.