‘Influential, non-cooperative’: CBI opposes Manish Sisodia’s bail plea in SC

The affidavit also stated that the applicant fails to meet the triple test – accused is not a flight risk, does not influence witnesses and won’t tamper with the evidence – for grant of bail as his release is likely to jeopardise the evidence gathered in the matter

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), probing the alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped Delhi liquor policy, has opposed the bail plea of Manish Sisodia in the Supreme Court, claiming that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader is “influential, has been non-cooperative” during questioning and has been found to “destroy evidence”, thus failing the triple test for grant of bail.

Former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia (File Photo)

The agency apprised the Supreme Court that Sisodia, the former Delhi deputy chief minister, was engaged in criminal conspiracy with other accused persons, some hailing from South India, with a pre-conceived idea to manipulate the excise policy to “promote monopoly and cartelisation of the sale of liquor in the Capital”.

The Supreme Court had sought responses from the CBI and the ED on a bail plea moved by Sisodia in connection with separate cases against him in the alleged excise policy scam.

The agency in a counter-affidavit filed on July 27, contended that the former Dy CM fabricated public opinion regarding the erstwhile excise policy.

The affidavit also stated that the applicant fails to meet the triple test – accused is not a flight risk, does not influence witnesses and won’t tamper with the evidence – for grant of bail as his release is likely to jeopardise the evidence gathered in the matter.

The agency in its response filed last week even disputed the plea for Sisodia’s interim bail on grounds of his wife’s ill health.

“The condition of the wife of the applicant as revealed through these documents cannot be considered to be severe or serious enough to release the applicant on bail,” said the affidavit.

It further stated that the medical condition of his wife is “not new” and the condition is not such that she cannot take care of herself or is to be necessarily taken care of by Sisodia alone.

Sisodia’s wife suffers from a severe auto-immune disease that was detected in the year 2000 and has since been receiving treatment for the same.

The trial court, while rejecting bail for Sisodia in April, had observed that based on the evidence collected so far, it could be clearly inferred that the applicant (Sisodia) was related to the generation of proceeds of crime of around Rs.100 crore in the form of kickbacks which were paid by the “South lobby” to the co-accused Vijay Nair, AAP’s communication in charge.

Sisodia had approached the top court against two separate orders passed by the Delhi high court rejecting bail. The Delhi high court had on July 3 denied bail to Sisodia in the Enforcement Directorate case and on May 30, it rejected the CBI case in relation to the same scam.

In his petition, Sisodia claimed that the charge sheet has already been filed by the CBI, where the charges against him are punishable with less than seven years imprisonment. He also pointed out that other co-accused are already out on bail.

Even in the ED case, Sisodia stated that the probe conducted so far has “not traced any proceeds of crime to him and in the absence of any evidence to link him with alleged money laundering, he deserves to be granted bail”.

The CBI arrested Sisodia on February 26 pursuant to a first information report registered in August 2022 under Indian Penal Code Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) read with Section 477A (falsification of accounts) and Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act (illegal gratification) in connection with irregularities in framing and implementation of the excise policy of Delhi for the year 2021-22.

The scam allegedly involves officials of the Delhi government granting liquor licenses to certain traders in exchange for bribes. It was under Sisodia that the 2021-22 excise policy was introduced in November 2021.