Delhi Excise Policy: Court Grants Interim Bail to Manish Sisodia to Attend Niece’s Wedding

Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court granted three-day interim bail to senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia on Monday, arrested in the alleged excise policy “scam”, to attend his niece’s wedding.

Special judge M K Nagpal granted the relief to Sisodia from February 13-15 in the corruption and money laundering cases being probed by the CBI and ED, respectively. The CBI had arrested the former deputy chief minister on February 26, 2023 over alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22.

Following his arrest by the CBI, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested him on March 9 from Tihar jail in a related money laundering case. Sisodia, who was responsible for the excise portfolio, resigned from the Delhi cabinet on February 28.

The Delhi government had implemented the new excise policy on November 17, 2021, but scrapped it by the end of September 2022 amid corruption allegations. Investigating agencies claim that the profit margin of wholesalers increased from 5 per cent to 12 per cent under the new policy, leading to cartelisation and favoring ineligible candidates for liquor licenses for financial gains.

However, both the Delhi government and Sisodia have consistently denied any wrongdoing, asserting that the new policy aimed to boost the city government’s revenue.