ED Seeks 10 Days Remand: Manish Sisodia To Be Produced Before The Court At 2pm

The Rouse Avenue Court today will allow the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to produce Delhi former Deputy Chief Minister and arrested AAP leader Manish Sisodia before it at 2 pm.

Sisodia was arrested on Thursday by ED in a money laundering in connection with an Excise policy case.
He was arrested during his Judicial custody in Tihar Jail where he was lodged in the CBI case.

Special Judge MK Nagpal on Friday allowed the ED plea seeking the production of Sisodia in the court. Court also noted that the ED is seeking 10 days remand of Sisodia.

Court noted that this is an application filed by ED through Advocate Naveen Kumar Matta under 267 CrPC seeking production & remand of accused Manish Sisodia for a period of 10 days.

Previously, The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in the liquor policy case, after hours of questioning at Tihar Jail.

Sisodia was arrested by the CBI in the liquor policy case on February 26 and was sent to 14-day judicial custody on March 6.
The ED also made another arrest in the case earlier, taking Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Ramchandra Pillai into its custody.

The ED, on Thursday, summoned Bharatiya Rashtriya Samiti (BRS) MLC and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s daughter K Kavitha for questioning in the liquor policy case.

Sisodia was arrested by the CBI earlier in its ongoing investigation of a case related to alleged irregularities in the framing and implementing of the excise policy of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD). Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court sent him to Judicial Custody till March 20.

Last year, ED has filed its first chargesheet in the case. The agency said it has, so far, undertaken nearly 200 search operations in this case after an FIR was filed, taking cognizance of the CBI case registered on the recommendation of Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena.

Officials had stated that the CBI inquiry was recommended on the findings of the Delhi chief secretary’s report filed in July showing prima facie violations of the GNCTD Act 1991, Transaction of the Business Rules (ToBR)-1993, Delhi Excise Act-2009, and Delhi Excise Rules-2010.

In October, the ED raided nearly three dozen locations in Delhi and Punjab following the arrest of Sameer Mahendru, managing director of Delhi’s Jor Bagh-based liquor distributor Indospirit Group, in the case and arrested him later.

The CBI filed its first charge sheet in the case earlier.

The ED and the CBI alleged that irregularities were committed while modifying the Excise Policy, and undue favors were extended to license holders. It was further alleged that the license fee was waived/reduced and the L-1 license was extended without the competent authority’s approval. The beneficiaries diverted “illegal” gains to the accused officials and made false entries in their books of account to evade detection.

Further, it was alleged that the Excise department had decided to refund the Earnest Money Deposit of about Rs 30 crore to a successful tenderer against the set rules. Even though there was no enabling provision, a waiver on tendered license fees was allowed from December 28, 2021, to January 27, 2022, due to Covid-19.

The agencies claimed that this allegedly caused a loss of Rs 144.36 crore to the exchequer.