New Delhi Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court on Thursday extended the judicial custody of AAP leader and former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia till May 12 in the alleged excise policy matter being probed by the CBI.
Special Judge MK Nagpal asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to supply to Sisodia the e-copy of the supplementary charge sheet filed by the agency on April 25.
The agency had arrested the former Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi for alleged corruption in the formulation of the now-cancelled Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 after several rounds of questioning.
During the court hearing, when the CBI said that the investigation in the case was still going on, Sisodia’s lawyer Rishikesh requested the court to grant statutory/default bail to the former Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, as the investigation report was incomplete.
“Prima facie it seems that the agency is saying that further investigation is required/pending on me. Therefore, we reserve the right to file an application for statutory bail,” the lawyer said.
The court then asked the CBI as to why it did not mention that the probe in respect of Sisodia has been completed.
The court said, “You say that you have filed the supplementary charge sheet (within the stipulated time), but you have said that the investigation in the matter is pending. Why did you not mention that the charge sheet was filed against Sisodia after the completion of the investigation?” goes.
The court further took note of the submissions made by the defense counsel, who claimed that a copy of the charge sheet was required by Sisodia to see whether the investigation has been completed or not.
The judge directed the CBI to hand over an e-copy of the charge sheet to Sisodia, though noting that it was not the stage to supply the copy of the charge sheet.
The court had on March 31 rejected Sisodia’s bail application in the case, saying he was a “prima facie mastermind” in the criminal conspiracy behind the alleged payment of an advance bribe of around Rs 30 lakh. 90-100 crores to him and his associates in the Delhi government.
The court had said that releasing Sisodia at this juncture would “prejudicially affect the investigation”.
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