AAP leader Manish Sisodia’s judicial custody extended till April 18

A Delhi court on Saturday extended the judicial custody of former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia till April 18 in the liquor policy case, PTI reported.

Sisodia was produced before special judge Kaveri Baweja in the Rouse Avenue Court on Saturday on the expiry of the judicial custody granted earlier.

On Tuesday, he told the court that he was eligible for bail as the Enforcement Directorate and Central Bureau of Investigation have not been able to trace any proceeds of crime to him.

However, the Enforcement Directorate on Saturday told the court that the alleged offence of money-laundering in the case could not have happened without Sisodia, The Indian Express reported. It also said that the delay in the trial – which the defence has cited as grounds for bail – was taking place due to the former deputy chief minister, not because of the prosecution.

The court will hear further arguments on the bail petition on April 10.

Sisodia, who has been named as a “key conspirator” in the case, has been in jail since February 2023, when he was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation. On March 9, 2023, the Enforcement Directorate arrested him in the same case.

The case

The Enforcement Directorate’s case is based on a first information report registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation alleging irregularities in the Delhi government’s now-scrapped excise policy.

The agencies have alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party government modified the liquor excise policy to ensure a 12% profit margin for wholesalers and a nearly 185% profit margin for retailers.

The former deputy chief minister is accused of extra-procedural interference in framing the policy, according to The Indian Express.

Three top leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party, including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Sisodia and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, have been arrested by the central agency in the liquor excise policy case.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court granted bail to Singh after the Enforcement Directorate said the Aam Aadmi Party leader’s custody was no longer required.