Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court on Monday has extended former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia’s judicial custody until April 3 and directed him to file a plea if he wants to appear virtually at the next hearing.
Sisodia, who is being investigated by the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on corruption accusations related to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy, was presented before the court virtually as he was in ED custody.
The court prolonged Sisodia’s detention in Tihar jail by 14 days after the CBI requested his custody, citing an ongoing probe.
“It is claimed that the inquiry is still underway and at a critical stage, and additional detention in judicial custody is essential,” the CBI informed the court.
This comes only two days after the ED alleged in a Delhi court that the AAP politician was involved in “large-scale destruction of digital evidence to obstruct the probe” into the Delhi excise policy case, and that he had changed and destroyed 14 phones.
The ED had requested a seven-day extension in Sisodia’s detention in its filing. In its remand application, seeking an extension of Sisodia’s custody, the agency on Friday stated the major recommendations that ultimately formed the basis for the Excise Policy 2021-22, including fixing of 12 per cent profit margin for wholesalers, were not decided in the group of ministers (GoM) meetings and instead “imported from external sources”.
Sisodia was detained by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 9 at Tihar prison in connection with a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case involving suspected corruption in the development and execution of the now-scrapped policy. On February 26, the CBI arrested him.
