Manish Sisodia Appeals to Delhi High Court for Stay on Excise Policy Case Trial
Click to start listening
New Delhi, Dec 1 (NationPress) Senior AAP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has approached the Delhi High Court requesting a suspension of the trial concerning the money laundering case associated with the alleged liquor policy scandal.
In his motion, Sisodia argued that the trial court acknowledged the alleged crimes under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) without receiving prior approval from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for prosecution.
The application further stated that the trial court should not have recognized the ED's prosecution complaint without the necessary sanction, given that he was a public official when the alleged money laundering occurred.
According to the causelist available on the Delhi High Court website, a panel led by Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri is scheduled to hear the case on December 2.
A similar request has been submitted by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal, who is also seeking a stay on the trial, citing the absence of required sanction.
In August this year, the Supreme Court granted bail to Manish Sisodia, stating that he should not be kept incarcerated indefinitely while awaiting the swift resolution of the trial related to the excise policy.
Delivering the ruling on Sisodia’s bail applications, a Bench led by Justice BR Gavai remarked: “In the current case involving the ED and CBI, 493 witnesses have been identified, and the case includes thousands of pages of documentation alongside over a lakh pages of digitized files.
“It is evident that there is virtually no chance of the trial concluding soon. We believe that detaining the appellant indefinitely while hoping for rapid trial completion would violate his Fundamental Right to Liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.”
The Bench, which also included Justice KV Viswanathan, noted that the prolonged incarceration, lasting around 17 months without the trial commencing, has denied the senior AAP leader his right to a speedy trial.
Rejecting the argument that Manish Sisodia might tamper with evidence if granted bail, the Supreme Court stated that the prosecution's case largely relies on documentary evidence already secured by the CBI and the ED.
The SC dismissed the central agencies’ request to restrict Manish Sisodia from accessing the Delhi Chief Minister’s Office or the Delhi Secretariat.
In a previous ruling on October 30 of the previous year, the apex court denied bail to the former Deputy Chief Minister but indicated that he could reapply for bail if the trial progressed slowly over the next three months.
