The Rouse Avenue court in Delhi on Friday extended the Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody of senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia by five days. The former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister is lodged in Tihar jail after his arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a case of alleged irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22.
Sisodia was produced before the court’s special judge M K Nagpal, who extended his custody till March 22. The federal anti-corruption agency had sought seven-day extension of his custody.
The Enforcement Directorate told the court that crucial information came out during his custody, and he also had to be confronted with other accused, including former Excise Commissioner Rahul Singh, Dinesh Arora and Amit Arora, along with his former secretary C Arvind
C Arvind is not an accused in the case.
The ED also told the Rouse Avenue court that voluminous data from Sisodia’s email and mobile and other devices is also being forensically analysed.
Meanwhile, opposing the ED’s plea, Sisodia’s lawyer said there is not a whisper from the agency regarding the proceeds of the crime, which is fundamental to the case. There is no justification for the extension of custody and Sisodia was confronted only with four people during his earlier seven-day custody, he said.
After his arrest by the CBI on February 26, Sisodia was sent to 14-day judicial custody on March 6. The ED arrested him on March 9, while he was in Tihar jail.
Heavy security deployment was made inside and outside the Rouse Avenue Court premises.
The ED also made another arrest in connection with the case as it took Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Ramchandra Pillai into its custody, and also has quizzed Bharatiya Rashtriya Samiti (BRS) MLC and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s daughter, K Kavitha in the liquor policy case.