Excise scam: Delhi court extends Manish Sisodia’s judicial custody till May 12

Special Judge M.K. Nagpal asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to supply an e-copy of supplementary charge sheet, filed by the agency on April 25, to Sisodia.

The agency had arrested the former Delhi deputy chief minister for alleged corruption in formulation of now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 following several rounds of questing.

During the court hearing, when the CBI submitted that the investigation in the case was still going on, Sisodia’s counsel Rishikesh requested the court to grant statutory/default bail to the former Delhi deputy chief minister, as the probe report was incomplete.

“Prima facie it seems the agency is saying that further investigation regarding me is required/pending. Therefore, we reserve the right to file an application for statutory bail,” the counsel said.

The court then asked the CBI why it had not mentioned that the probe regarding Sisodia was complete.

The court said “You say you have filed supplementary chargesheet (in the stipulated time), but you have said investigation is pending in the case. Why have you not mentioned that chargesheet is filed on completion of investigation against Sisodia,” the court asked.

The court further noted the submission made by defence counsel, who claimed that a copy of the chargesheet was required by Sisodia to see whether investigation qua him was complete.

The judge directed the CBI to hand over an e-copy of the chargesheet to Sisodia, though noting that it was not the stage to supply copy of the chargesheet.

The court had on March 31 dismissed Sisodia’s bail application in the case, saying he was “prima facie the architect” in the criminal conspiracy behind alleged payment of advance kickbacks of around ₹90-100 crore meant for him and his colleagues in the Delhi government.

The court had observed that the release of Sisodia, at the moment, will “adversely affect the ongoing investigation”.