A Delhi court on Monday granted former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia permission to meet his ailing wife once a week while in custody, where he has been held for over a year in the Delhi liquor policy case.
Additionally, his regular bail plea is scheduled for a hearing on February 12 before Special Judge M K Nagpal, according to The Indian Express.
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During the proceedings, Judge Nagpal inquired whether Manish Sisodia’s wife could visit him in jail with the assistance of an attendant. Sisodia’s lawyers responded negatively, citing his wife Seema Sisodia’s inability to walk for extended periods, which has prevented her from visiting him in jail.
Last month, Sisodia approached the court seeking regular bail on merit and custody parole to meet his wife, who is suffering from multiple sclerosis, for two days every week. Sisodia faces accusations of extra-procedural interference in formulating the now-scrapped new excise policy, allegedly favouring specific liquor entities and causing substantial financial loss to the state exchequer.
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In July 2022, Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar reported deviations from laid-down procedures in the formulation of the excise policy to L-G V K Saxena and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The report highlighted the apparent reversal of Sisodia’s earlier policy on dry days, leading to “undue benefit” to licensees without justification.
Earlier in the day, Sisodia sought an early hearing of his two curative petitions in the Supreme Court challenging the 2023 verdict denying him bail in the corruption and money laundering cases related to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam. The top court assured an expedited listing of the curative petitions.
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Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing Sisodia, informed the bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra about Sisodia’s prolonged incarceration and requested an urgent hearing of the curative petitions. The Chief Justice assured that the petitions would be listed soon, PTI reported.
The Supreme Court had previously dismissed Sisodia’s pleas seeking a review of its October 30 verdict, rejecting his bail petitions in the corruption and money laundering cases linked to the Delhi excise policy scam. The court had denied him bail, stating that the probe agencies’ allegations of “windfall gains” of Rs 338 crore by a few wholesale distributors were tentatively supported by evidence.
Sisodia was arrested by the CBI on February 26, 2023, for his alleged role in the scam. The ED arrested him in a money-laundering case stemming from the CBI FIR on March 9, 2023, after questioning him in Tihar Jail. Sisodia resigned from the Delhi cabinet on February 28, 2023.
The Delhi government implemented the new excise policy on November 17, 2021, but scrapped it in September 2022 amid corruption allegations. Investigating agencies claim that the new policy increased wholesalers’ profit margin from 5% to 12%, resulting in cartelisation and favouritism towards ineligible liquor license applicants for monetary benefits. However, both the Delhi government and Sisodia deny any wrongdoing, asserting that the new policy aimed to boost the city government’s revenue.