The Delhi Rouse Avenue court in Delhi on Friday said that it will hear former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia’s bail plea in the case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on March 21.
The CBI has alleged irregularities in the policy implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 case.
The senior AAP leader was arrested on February 26 by the probe agency after he gave “evasive” replies in connection with the excise case, and “didn’t cooperate”.
He was first questioned by the CBI on October 17 last year.
The case by CBI goes back to July last year when Delhi Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar submitted a report to the Lieutenant-Governor’s Office, alleging procedural lapses in the implementation of the policy and claiming that post-tender benefits were extended to the licensees.
Meanwhile, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena wrote to the Ministry of Home Affairs headed by Amit Shah
As the new liquor policy courted controversy, Sisodia on July 30 announced that the Arvind Kejriwal
The new excise policy was meant to remove government interference and privatise the liquor business in Delhi.
The CBI had registered the case on August 17, and two days later, about 21 locations, including that of Sisodia were raided. On September 28, the first high-profile arrest was made in the case of former AAP’s communication in-charge Vijay Nair. A total of 15 people are booked in the CBI FIR, including Sisodia.
The FIR had stated, “Manish Sisodia, Deputy CM; Arava Gopi Krishna, then Commissioner (Excise); Anand Tiwari, then Deputy Commissioner (Excise); and Pankaj Bhatnagar, Assistant Commissioner (Excise) were instrumental in recommending and taking decisions pertaining to excise policy for the year 2021-22 without the approval of competent authority with an intention to extend undue favours to the licensee post tender.”