Delhi court extends Manish Sisodia's judicial custody till April 17 in money laundering case

Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court on Wednesday extended the judicial custody of Manish Sisodia in the money laundering case till April 17.

Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court on Wednesday extended the judicial custody of Manish Sisodia in the money laundering case till April 17. The former Delhi deputy chief minister was arrested on March 9 by the central agency following questioning.

“No PMLA case has been made against Manish Sisodia. Section 45 of PMLA would come against him only if an offence under Section 3 is made out”, Sisodia's lawyer Vivek Jain argued in court.

Former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia was arrested on March 9 by ED (File Photo)

“Not a single rupees has come in Manish Sisodia's account or his family account. They have raided his home, they have checked bank accounts. They even went to his native place.There is no allegations against him as far as money laundering offence is concerned”, the lawyer added.

This comes days after a Delhi court extended his judicial custody till April 17 in the case connected to alleged corruption in the Delhi excise policy case. The judge had passed the order on an application by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which had claimed that the probe was at a crucial stage.

On March 31, the Rouse Avenue court had rejected Sisodia's bail plea, calling him ‘prima facie the architect’ in the criminal conspiracy behind the alleged payment of advance kickbacks of around ₹90-100 crore, meant for him and his colleagues in the Delhi government.

The court had observed the release of the senior AAP leader, who is in custody since February 26, at the moment will "adversely affect the ongoing investigation".

The CBI had arrested Sisodia for alleged corruption in the formulation and execution of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 on February 26 after several rounds of questioning.