A Delhi court on Saturday extended the judicial custody of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders Sanjay Singh and Manish Sisodia till February 3 in connection with the excise policy case, reports PTI.
The senior AAP leaders appeared via video conference from Tihar Jail. Officials said that they couldn’t be produced physically due to security reasons and lack of police personnel because of Republic Day preparations.
Singh was arrested by the ED on October 4 after conducting searches at his home and Sisodia, who was allocated the excise portfolio, was arrested on February 26.
Special Judge M K Nagpal also reserved its order for January 24 on a bail application of Sarvesh Mishra, a close aid of Singh and an accused in the case. Mishra was summoned after taking cognisance of a charge sheet filed against him and Singh.
The ED earlier told the court that Singh was part of the conspiracy to collect kickbacks from liquor groups in the Delhi excise policy 2021-22.
In August 2022, the Delhi excise policy was scrapped, and the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi subsequently asked the CBI to probe the alleged irregularities and corruption involving government authorities, bureaucrats and liquor traders, among others.
The agencies alleged that the AAP government in Delhi modified the liquor excise policy to ensure a 12 per cent profit margin for wholesalers and 185 per cent profit margin for retailers.