“Supreme Court Reserves Verdict on Manish Sisodia’s Bail Pleas in Liquor Policy Case”

The Supreme Court has kept constitutional matters pending on the question involving bail for former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in the liquor policy case. It was Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan hearing the matter that has Sisodia being represented by Senior Advocate Dr. AM Singhvi while the authorities by Additional Solicitor General SV Raju. The bench noted an inconsistency in the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) stance: it was the ED that accused Sisodia of frustrating the trial through filing of what it referred to as sham applications, while at the same seeking an extension of time until July 3, 2024 to file a final charge sheet.

Same being pointed out by Justice Viswanathan through this contradiction in the operation of the ED where it was giving an impression that the trial cannot go on until all the chargesheets are presented. He also wanted to know from the ED the probable time to complete the trial since there are 493 witnesses.

ASG expressed that Sisodia unnecessarily delayed the trial by filing wasteful applications to even withdraw the same. He argued that louder must have filed a discharge application if in the first place he did not want to go on with the process of framing charges. The ASG also added that there are possibilities of Sisodia interfering with the evidence and the witnesses if granted bail.

In response, Singhvi sought to submit that most of the applications moved by Sisodia were granted by the trial court and that the accusations of tampering were only raised in a bid to poison the mind of the court against granting bail yet again. Singhvi also doubted the possibility of the building a day-to-day trial since the current status of the case and prerequisites has already been completed.

The court had dealt with Sisodia’s bail application on June 4 to consider a guarantee made by the Solicitor General of India that the last chargesheet will be filed by July 3 2024. On the following cross-sections of his legal advocacy, Sisodia’s counsel pointed to the pre-October 2023 trial identity as well as to a prolonged detention.

Sisodia’s legal team first raised the emergency of the bail application on July 8 saying that he has been held for 16 months. As for the Supreme Court, the matter was scheduled for hearing on July 11 but was proceeded not further on account of the recusal taken by Justice Sanjay Kumar. The case was then taken up on July 16 before Justices BR Gavai, Sanjay Karol and KV Viswanathan who issued notice on Sisodia’s pleas noting his incarceration for a considerable amount of time while the trial has remained virtually static.

Thus, on July 29, ASG Raju pointed out to the court that new petitions are not tenable by Sisodia, citing the directions of the apex court order of June 4, which indicated that Sisidious ought to file new bail applications before the trial court. The bench noted, however, that Sisxia was allowed by the court to move the bail petitions after the filing of the chargesheet. The court also noted that the earlier order said that when this matter is posted for trial, it should be completed within thirty days of the posting and the time within which this thirty days was to end had also elapsed.

Sisodia had moved the Delhi High Court seeking bail and it dismissed his second bail application on May 21. He moved for bail in the cases lodged by the CBI and the ED under the POCA and PC Act in a staged liquor policy scam. Sisodia was arrested by CBI and ED in the months of February and March of last year.

The matter will now rest on the apex court’s determination of the merits and demerit of the bail petitions as filed by Sisodia.