Delhi Excise Policy: Manish Sisodia Seeks Early Hearing of Curative Petitions in SC

Jailed AAP Leader Manish Sisodia on Monday sought early hearing of his two curative petitions in the Supreme Court, challenging the court’s 2023 verdict denying him bail in the corruption and money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.

Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing Sisodia, informed a bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra about Sisodia’s year-long incarceration and requested the urgent listing of the curative petitions.

The Chief Justice responded, “I have already instructed for the listing of the petitions.”

On December 14, 2023, the Apex Court dismissed Sisodia’s pleas for a review of its October 30 verdict rejecting his bail petitions in the corruption and money laundering cases linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam. The apex court, in its earlier decision, denied him bail, citing probe agencies’ allegations of “windfall gains” of Rs 338 crore by a few wholesale distributors, tentatively supported by evidence. Sisodia was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on February 26, 2023, for his alleged involvement in the “scam.” The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Sisodia in a money-laundering case arising from the CBI FIR on March 9, 2023, following his interrogation in Tihar Jail. Sisodia resigned from the Delhi cabinet on February 28, 2023.

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.