AAP alleges misbehaviour with Manish Sisodia in Delhi court

At a press conference at the party office, minister Saurabh Bhardwaj played videos where Sisodia was seen being escorted by a group of Delhi Police personnel to the Rouse Avenue court

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday alleged that former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia was “held by the neck and dragged” by a Delhi Police officer before being presented in a city court for the hearing in a money laundering case related to the excise policy.

A videograb of police officers with former deputy CM Manish Sisodia at Rouse Avenue court on Tuesday. (PTI)

“Does the police have the right to misbehave with Manish ji like this? Have the police been asked from above to do this?”, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted, apparently referring to the alleged role of the central government in the incident. Delhi Police is in the purview of the Centre, where the Bharatiya Janata Party is in power.

At a press conference at the party office, Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj played videos where Sisodia was seen being escorted by a group of Delhi Police personnel to the Rouse Avenue court. A police officer, who is walking next to Sisodia, is seen purportedly attempting to prevent reporters from clicking Sisodia, and then holding him by the neck to make him walk away from the mediapersons faster.

Delhi Police rejected the allegations, and termed it as “propaganda”. “Reports about misbehaviour with Manish Sisodia in the Rouse Avenue Court is merely propaganda. The action by the police shown in the video was necessary from the point of view of security. Giving statements to the media by a person under judicial custody is against the law,” the Delhi Police said in tweet in Hindi.

Bharadwaj rebutted the claim. “From time immemorial, an accused or a convict in any case, while being taken to the court, have been allowed to speak to the media, if a few mediapersons are at the site,” he said. “The videos of Sukesh Chandrasekhar court production are more than enough to debunk the lies of Delhi Police.”

Bharadwaj also played a recent video of alleged conman Sukesh Chandrasekhar outside a court, where he was purportedly speaking to the media.

“You can see how this particular ACP first pushed away all the media persons and then he held Manish Sisodia by his neck and dragged him to take him away from the cameras view. You can also see that when Chandrasekhar is being escorted by Delhi Police, he is being allowed to give full-length interviews to media channels. He is being treated as if he is a relative of PM Modi. The camera persons are allowed to ask him follow-up questions and they are allowed to walk with him and get his response on these questions,” he said.

Meanwhile, the court extended till June 1 the judicial custody of Sisodia in the case.

Sisodia is currently lodged in Tihar jail in connection with probe by the Enforcement Directorate in connection to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy.

Bharadwaj added that “all politicians, irrespective of their posts, are usually accorded a minimum level of decency when they are presented in front of the judges or taken to the courts” and that “the (central) government should not harass an accused” due to political rivalry.

Bharadwaj also raised questions Sisodia’s treatment inside the jail.

“If this is what is happening in front of the cameras, just imagine how these police officials will be treating Sisodia when he is in jail,” he said.