A Delhi court on Thursday extended the judicial custody of former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia till November 22 in a money laundering case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy.
The ED had arrested Sisodia in the money laundering case stemming from the CBI FIR on March 9 after questioning him in Tihar Jail. Sisodia resigned from the Delhi cabinet on February 28.
Earlier on October 17, the Supreme Court told the Enforcement Directorate that if the bribe that was allegedly paid for tweaking the Delhi excise policy is not part of a predicate offence, then it will be difficult for the federal probe agency to prove the charge of money laundering against former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia.
The Delhi government implemented the policy on November 17, 2021 but scrapped it at the end of September 2022 amid allegations of corruption. Under the new policy, according to the investigating agencies, the profit margin of wholesalers was increased from 5 per cent to 12 per cent for monetary considerations.
The probe agencies have alleged that the new policy resulted in cartelisation and those ineligible for liquor licences were favoured for monetary benefits. However, the Delhi government and Sisodia have denied any wrongdoing and said the new policy would have led to an increase in the state’s excise revenue.
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