Delhi Excise Policy: Court Permits Manish Sisodia to Meet Ailing Wife Once a Week

Delhi’s Rouse Avenue court on Monday granted former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia permission to visit his wife, Seema Sisodia once a week while in custody.

It should be noted that Manish Sisodia was present during the hearing. He has applied for regular bail in the Delhi Excise policy case and requested custody parole to visit his ailing wife twice a week.

Special Judge M K Nagpal approved Manish Sisodia’s request to visit his ailing wife once a week in custody. The court stipulated that the doctor could also attend to her during these visits. The arrangement is to continue until further orders, the court stated.

The court has scheduled the hearing on his regular bail for February 12 at 2 pm, with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) presenting its arguments. Senior advocate Mohit Mathur represented Manish Sisodia, asserting that the earlier parole was not misused. The applicant, he submitted, has a wife, a son residing abroad, and an elderly mother.

Counsel for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) opposed the parole application, contending that the ailment is not new and she is not in a bedridden condition. Advocate Vivek Jain argued that she cannot stand and is currently suffering from mental health issues.

The court inquired if the visit of Sisodia’s wife could be arranged within the jail premises. Manish Sisodia informed the court that she cannot move for 15-30 minutes and cannot be left alone for that duration.

Responding to the judge’s query about previous visits, it was stated that the court had allowed him to visit his wife once in November 2023 and once by the High Court in June 2023.

Former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia approached the court seeking regular bail in the Delhi Excise policy money laundering and CBI case. Additionally, he sought custody parole for two days each week to meet his wife. The court issued notices to the ED and CBI on Sisodia’s plea, acknowledging that the first application is for regular bail and the second is for custody parole to meet his ailing wife.

Senior Advocate Mohit Mathur, representing Manish Sisodia through video conferencing, argued the case. Sisodia, arrested and charge-sheeted in the Delhi Excise policy cases by the ED and CBI, had been granted custody parole to meet his ailing wife on Diwali on November 10, 2023. However, his bail applications were rejected by the trial court, High Court on May 30, 2023, and by the Supreme Court on October 30, 2023. His plea for a review of the Supreme Court’s judgment was also rejected in December 2023. He was initially arrested by the CBI on February 26, 2023, and subsequently by the ED on March 9, 2023.