Delhi HC rejects Manish Sisodia bail plea: Can’t ignore CBI fear that he may influence witnesses

“However, since there are serious allegations of misconduct against the petitioner, the petitioner being an influential person and having held the position of deputy chief minister having 18 portfolios, and the witnesses are mostly public servants, a possibility of the witnesses being influenced cannot be ruled out,” Justice Sharma said.

“Thus, the petitioner fails the triple test in the view of the seriousness of the allegations and his position. Though the petitioner has resigned from the post of minister, but still his position is influential qua the witnesses. In the facts and circumstances, the petitioner is not entitled to bail,” the judge said.

The court said Sisodia was “undisputedly a prominent leader of the Aam Aadmi Party, which is having the present government” in Delhi, and, hence, his “role” in any “policy decision, including a formation of new excise policy replacing the old one, has to be extremely relevant”.

“The applicant at this stage cannot be seen saying that he had no role to play. He being the deputy chief minister and minister of excise, was at the helm of affairs. The witnesses in the present case are mostly public servants. Presently also, the party of the applicant is in power. Therefore, it cannot be disputed that the applicant is a high-profile person and has potential to influence the witnesses. Therefore, the apprehension of the CBI that the applicant might tamper with or otherwise adversely influence the witnesses cannot be ignored,” the court said.

Justice Sharma, however, said that an elected government has the power to decide its policies and they were not bound to accept the recommendation of any “expert committee report”.

The court said that it cannot interfere with policies of the government unless they are “alleged to have been taken malafidely or have the taint of any corrupt practice”.

The court noted that in this case the allegations against the now scrapped policy was that “certain provisions have been added to render undue advantage to a particular group against the illegal gratification having been received from them”. The court said that these allegations, “if found to be correct”, are very “serious in nature” and go to the “foundation” of the case.

Sisodia was arrested by the CBI on February 26 following several rounds of questioning for alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22. He has also been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a related money laundering case.

On the law pertaining to grant of bail, the High Court said that it is required to take into account certain factors including “existence of prima facie case against the accused, the gravity of the allegations…”. It also observed that it is “well settled” that court should not “go deep into the merits” of the matter while considering a bail plea and all that needs to be established from the record is a “prime facie” case against the accused.