Bail denied, Sisodia to stay in jail for now in Delhi excise policy case

Sisodia filed a bail plea in Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi a few months after his bail plea was rejected by the Supreme Court. The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is probing the money laundering aspect of the excise policy case, informed the apex court that it would complete the trial within six to eight months.

However, it has been six months since then, and the charges in the excise policy case have still not been framed.

Sisodia was accused of extra-procedural interference in framing the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy, tweaking it for the benefit of particular liquor entities and causing a loss of several hundred crores to the state exchequer. He was first arrested by the CBI in February 2023, and then by the ED in March that year. In the ED chargesheet, Sisodia was named a “key conspirator” in the case, after which he resigned from the Delhi cabinet on February 28, 2023.

While opposing Sisodia’s second bail plea before the Court of Special Judge Kaveri Baweja, the ED had argued that the continuation of the policy would have made consumers pay hundreds of crores annually.

The ED had also earlier argued that the excise policy would not have been possible without Sisodia.

According to the ED’s allegations, wholesale distributors earned a fixed fee of Rs 581 crore because the commission (distribution fee) was increased from 5 per cent in the previous policy to 12 per cent in the new excise policy which was later scrapped.

It was on the basis of the increased profits earned by wholesalers that the Supreme Court had in October denied bail to Sisodia. These excess profits amounted to Rs 338 crore.

“…Sisodia admitted that there was no calculation done to arrive at the figure of 12 per cent,” Zoheb Hossain, special counsel of the ED had said earlier. adding that the Delhi excise policy was predetermined to “favour a few players”.

While Sisodia’s counsel had earlier argued for his bail on the grounds of delay, the ED submitted that mere delay could not be a ground for interim bail if the offences are grave in nature.

Further, blaming Sisodia for the delay, Hossain had earlier stated that they moved a large number of applications before the court.

The CBI, which is investigating the corruption aspect of the case, also opposed the former deputy CM’s bail plea.

Representing the CBI, Additional Public Prosecutor Pankaj Gupta called Sisodia the “mastermind” in the case. “Others have gotten bail… but due to your role, you (Sisodia) can’t get parity with those persons,” Gupta had said earlier, adding that the trial for such a large and complex case cannot be completed soon; and that the agencies have been doing their best to conclude the trial.