E-Paper
Manish Sisodia doesn’t satisfy triple test, says Delhi HC; rejects his bail plea
The Delhi high court has already rejected Manish Sisodia’s bail application in the CBI’s excise case on the ground that the allegations against him are serious
NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court on Monday rejected former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia’s petition for bail in connection with a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy, saying that Sisodia has failed to meet the conditions for the grant of bail.
Justice Dinesh Sharma said Sisodia didn’t meet the twin conditions for the grant of bail under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) as well as the triple test for the grant of bail.
Section 45 of PMLA lays down the “twin conditions” for the grant of bail to an accused that must be ascertained by the court in ruling on a bail petition. The two conditions are that there are reasonable grounds to believe that he is not guilty of such an offence and that he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail.
According to the triple test doctrine referred to by the high court, an accused may be granted bail if it is established that he is not a flight risk, will not influence witnesses and will not tamper with the evidence.
Justice Sharma also underlined that the order of the special judge, which denied bail to Sisodia in April, was well reasoned and delivered on the basis of the material on record and did not suffer from any illegality or infirmity.
A detailed copy of the court verdict is awaited.
Sisodia was arrested by CBI on February 26 in the case over the 2021-22 excise policy that aimed to revitalize the city’s flagging liquor business. The excise policy was scrapped when LG Vinai Kumar Saxena recommended a probe into alleged irregularities in the regime that sought to replace a sales-volume based with a licence fee one for traders.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has maintained Saxena’s predecessor sabotaged the policy with a few last-minute changes that resulted in lower-than-expected revenues.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) took Manish Sisodia’s custody on March 9 in a money laundering case related to the excise case after grilling him in jail.
The high court on Monday recalled that it has already Sisodia’s bail application in the CBI case on the ground that the allegations against him are serious in nature.
On June 5, justice Sharma also turned down Sisodia’s request for interim bail, underlining that the charges against him were “extremely serious”. The court, however, allowed Sisodia to meet his ailing wife on any day at home or hospital.
In separate orders, the high court on Monday also denied bail to co-accused AAP communication in charge Vijay Nair, businessman Abhishek Boinpally and Pernard Ricord general manager Benoy Babu for their respective roles in the alleged scam.
Detailed reasoned orders of the court are awaited.
