NEW DELHI: The sun was mellow outside the leafy precincts of the Rouse Avenue Court complex in Delhi which was unusually fortified with security forces on the sleepy spring afternoon of February 28, 2023. The people and media in and around the court premises were eagerly waiting for one man — then Deputy CM of Delhi Manish Sisodia, the city’s second most powerful politician of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party — who was arrested by the CBI, just two days earlier on February 26 last year, in connection with the Delhi Excise Policy Case.Following his arrest, Sisodia was arrested in Tihar Jail by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with money laundering charges allegedly linked to the CBI case.Denial of bail and SC’s concernThe former CM’s bail was dismissed twice by the trial court presided over by Special Judge MK Nagpal. In the meanwhile, Delhi High Court and Supreme Court did not grant him any relief in the alleged corruption case related to the irregularities in the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy case.Refusing bail to Sisodia, a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti of the Supreme Court also took note that the prosecution’s assurance that the trial would be concluded in six to eight months, saying if it goes at a “snail’s pace”, the AAP leader can approach the apex court again.
Source link
