Delhi liquor policy corruption case: Supreme Court grants bail to Manish Sisodia | Delhi News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to AAP leader and former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in corruption and money laundering cases related to the alleged scam in the now-scrapped Delhi liquor policy.
However, the Supreme Court directed the AAP leader to surrender his passport and not to influence witnesses after being released from jail.
Sisodia will come out of Tihar jail after spending 17 months in custody.
During the hearing, the CBI and ED had pleaded the apex court to impose same condition on Sisodia which was imposed on CM Arvind Kejriwal but the court refused the plea.
The SC said that trial court’s finding that Sisodia delayed trial in Delhi Excise Policy case is not correct and refused to accept CBI and ED contention of blaming Sisodia for delay in trial.
The SC ruled that the delay in trial and long incarnation is valid ground to grant bail in money laundering cases despite stringent twin condition mentioned in the PMLA.
The apex court remarked that keeping an accused in jail for long time in hope of completion of trail amounts to violation of fundamental rights of accused.
Sisodia was taken into custody by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on February 26, 2023, for his alleged role in the irregularities surrounding the creation and execution of the Delhi excise policy for 2021-22.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested him on March 9, 2023, as part of the money laundering investigation related to the CBI’s FIR.
He resigned from the Delhi cabinet on February 28, 2023.
(With inputs from agencies)