A Delhi court Tuesday reserved its order on the bail application of former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia who was arrested in a money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate in a case related to the alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy 2021-22. The order has been reserved for April 26.
Special Judge M K Nagpal reserved the order after hearing arguments on his application seeking relief that claimed that his custody is no longer required for investigation.
The ED opposed the application, asserting the investigation was at a “crucial” stage and claiming that he had planted fabricated emails to show there was public approval for the policy. The federal anti-money laundering agency also said it has found fresh evidence of his complicity in the alleged crime.
Sisodia’s legal team, meanwhile, filed a rejoinder note of submissions to the court, wherein it argued that there was “not only no recovery from the applicant” (Sisodia), but also “no material to support the allegation that the alleged kickbacks were ever even intended” for him.
The note speaks about statements made by C Aravind, former secretary to Sisodia.
The ED chargesheet in the case had stated, “The conspiracy of GoM (Group of Ministers) to give wholesale business to private entities and fix 12% margin (to get 6% kickback out from the same) is clear from the statement of C Aravind, wherein he disclosed that there was neither any discussion in the GoM Meetings about giving wholesale to private entities nor fixing 12% profit margin for them.” The note said that Aravind’s statements were “riddled with contradictions and improvements”.
The applicant told the court that there were “valid policy reasons” for the increase in profit margin of wholesalers from 5% to 12%. “The increase was due to the significantly higher level of investment required for global distribution standards, freight, and insurance and a reasonable profit”, the note said.
Special Public Prosecutor Naveen Kumar Matta, appearing for ED, told the judge the agency is likely to file a supplementary charge sheet against Sisodia and co-accused Arun Pillai and Amandeep Dhal by the end of this month. The court had on Monday extended till April 29 Sisodia’s judicial custody in the money laundering cases lodged by the ED.
It also extended his custody till April 27 in the corruption case related to the alleged scam being probed by the CBI. The court had on March 31 dismissed his bail application in the corruption case, saying he was “prima facie the architect” in the criminal conspiracy behind alleged payment of advance kickbacks of Rs 90-100 crore meant for him and his colleagues in the government.