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Delhi Court Rejects 2nd Bail Plea Of AAP's Manish Sisodia In Excise Policy Case

Manish Sisodia, who has been in custody since February 2023, had sought bail on the grounds of delay in the trial. His earlier bail application was also dismissed by the court last year.

File photo of AAP leader Manish Sisodia
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Delhi's Rouse Avenue court on Tuesday dismissed the second regular bail application of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in the Excise policy case. Manish Sisodia will be approaching the Delhi High Court after Rouse Avenue court dismissed his second regular bail application in Delhi Excise policy case.

His bail was opposed by both the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Sisodia, who has been in custody since February 2023, had sought bail on the grounds of delay in the trial. His earlier bail application was also dismissed by the court last year.

The CBI had on February 26 last year arrested Sisodia for alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) subsequently arrested him on March 9 in the connected money laundering case while he was in judicial custody in Tihar jail.

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Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is also arrested in the alleged excise policy scam and is currently in judicial custody in Tihar jail. Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21.

The Supreme Court on Monday asked Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal why has he not filed a bail application before trial court. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta was hearing the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader's plea challenging his arrest by the ED.

"You did not move any application for bail before the trial court?" the bench asked senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, who appeared in the court on behalf of Kejriwal.

"No", Singhvi replied.

"Why did you not file any application for bail?" the bench asked.

The lawyer said there are several reasons, including that Kejriwal's arrest was "illegal".