Arrested senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia’s CBI custody was extended by two days by a Delhi court on Saturday in the case of alleged corruption in the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy case.
CBI Judge MK Nagpal refused to grant Sisodia bail and extended his custody till March 6. CBI’s counsel had sought three days extension of his custody.
During the hearing, the CBI counsel told the court that Sisodia was not cooperating with the agency in its probe into alleged corruption in the framing and implementation of the Delhi excise policy for the year 2022-23.
Sisodia, the then deputy chief minister and education minister in the Delhi government, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Sunday. After his arrest, he was sent to CBI custody for five days which expired on Saturday.
On the expiry of his custody period, Sisodia – considered number 2 in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) – was produced before the court amid heavy security even as party workers staged a protest outside its headquarters.
Sisodia, who handled 18 portfolios earlier, has been listed as accused number 1 in a chargesheet filed by the CBI in the liquor policy case.
He was arrested on the grounds of non-cooperation and giving evasive replies.
CBI filed a case on August 17, last year, in response to a complaint filed by Lieutenant Governor Vinai Saxena.
Apart from Sisodia, the agency has named his close aide Vijay Nair, who is also the former CEO of Mumbai-based entertainment and event management company Only Much Louder, besides 13 private people across Lucknow, Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai and Karnataka, which include liquor firms Brindco and Indospirit.
In August last year, CBI carried out searches at several locations, including the premises of Sisodia. Even so, ED had carried out searches at over 169 locations in connection with the case.
In its FIR, CBI alleged that close associates of Sisodia were actively involved in “managing and diverting the undue pecuniary advantage” collected from liquor licenses to accused public servants.
Last year, the ED filed its first charge sheet in the excise policy money laundering case against five persons – Mahendru, Khao Gali Restaurants Pvt Ltd, Indospirits, Bubbly Beverages Pvt Ltd, IndoSpirits Distribution Limited – before a Delhi court. The court took cognizance of the ED charge sheet on December 22.
Last month, ED arrested Magunta Raghava Reddy, son of YSR Congress Party MP Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy, Gautham Malhotra and Chariot Media owner Rajesh Joshi.
The CBI also questioned K Kavitha, daughter of Telangana Chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, in connection with the case.