Delhi Excise policy case: Supreme Court to hear AAP leader Manish Sisodia's bail pleas on July 29

SC to hear AAP leader Manish Sisodia's bail pleas in corruption and money laundering cases on July 29.

The Supreme Court (SC) is scheduled to hear Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia’s bail pleas in corruption and money laundering cases linked to the alleged Delhi Excise policy scam on July 29.

The former Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi has sought bail contending that he has been in custody for 16 months and the trial against him has not made any progress since October, 2023.

According to the cause list of July 29 uploaded on the SC website, a Bench of judges comprised of Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice K.V. Viswanathan is slated to hear Mr. Sisodia’s pleas.

The Supreme Court had on July 16 agreed to hear the pleas and sought responses from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Mr. Sisodia has also filed an application seeking revival of his bail petitions in the Excise policy-linked corruption and money laundering cases.

The AAP leader was arrested by the CBI on February 26, 2023, in connection with alleged irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise policy 2021-22. The ED arrested him in the money laundering case stemming from the CBI FIR on March 9 last year. He resigned from the Delhi cabinet on February 28, 2023.

Mr. Sisodia’s plea has said the law officer, appearing for the probe agencies, had told the top court on June 4 that the charge sheet and the prosecution complaint in the main Excise policy case and the linked money laundering case, respectively, would be filed on or before July 3. A prosecution complaint is the ED’s equivalent of a charge sheet.