Delhi excise policy case: Supreme Court to hear AAP leader Sisodia's bail pleas on Friday

New Delhi: The Supreme Court is slated to hear, on Friday, the pleas moved by former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia seeking bail in connection with the corruption and money laundering cases related to the now-scrapped excise policy.

As per the cause list published on the apex court website, a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and S.V.N. Bhatti will also hear the application for interim bail on August 4.

The court, on July 14, issued notice and sought responses of the CBI and the ED on the two petitions filed by the senior AAP leader challenging orders of the Delhi High Court denying him bail in the CBI and the ED cases, respectively.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Sisodia, had urged the apex court to grant Sisodia interim bail to meet his ailing wife.

In its counter-affidavit filed before the top court, the CBI has opposed Sisodia’s plea, saying that "the condition of wife of the applicant... cannot be considered to be severe or serious enough to release the applicant on bail and the same also cannot be taken to mean that she cannot take care of herself or has to necessarily taken care of by the applicant only".

It said that in case the AAP leader is released on bail, he will tamper with the evidence and influence witnesses.

"The petitioner also destroyed his mobile phone on the day the present matter was referred by the Ministry of Home Affairs to the CBI on July 22, 2022," the reply added.

The Supreme Court has agreed to list Sisodia’s pleas on July 14 after Singhvi sought urgent listing of the matter citing the ill health of his wife Seema Sisodia.

The senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader moved the top court after the Delhi High Court, on July 3, had denied him bail in connection with the money laundering charges being probed by the ED, saying that he was not able to meet the twin conditions for grant of bail under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), and the triple test for grant of bail.

Earlier, Sisodia was denied bail by the high court in the CBI case relating to the same scam after observing that the allegations against him were very serious.

The ED had arrested Sisodia on March 9, after the CBI arrested him on February 26 this year. In April, Special Judge M.K. Nagpal had denied bail to the AAP leader holding that the evidence, prima facie, "speaks volumes" of his involvement in the commission of the offence.