Delhi Liquor Policy case: ED gets 7-day custody of Sisodia
The Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi on Friday granted the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seven-day custody of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia. He was produced before the court in connection with an alleged scam in the now-scrapped Delhi Liquor Policy 2021-22. The ED arrested Sisodia on Thursday after questioning him in Tihar Jail.
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Sisodia's bail hearing deferred to March 21
The ED sought Sisodia's custody for at least 10 days to trace the illicit money trail in the case, which the agency said was to the tune of Rs. 292 crore. Notably, he was under the CBI's remand until Match 20. His bail hearing in the CBI court was scheduled for Friday but has now been deferred to March 21.
ED considers arrest as its right: Sisodia's counsel
Sisodia's lawyer Dayan Krishna opposed the ED's request for custody, saying that the probe agency considered arrest a right without the need to undergo legal due process. "It has become a fashion these days that the agencies take arrests as a right. It's time for the courts to come down heavily on this sense of entitlement," he said.
Sisodia raised wholesale profit margins from 5% to 12%
The ED earlier interrogated Sisodia on Tuesday and Thursday, following which it arrested him. ED sleuths said that he was being questioned regarding allegations of destroying evidence, claiming that he frequently changed phones. He was also questioned over increasing the profit margin for wholesale liquor traders from 5% to 12%, and his arrested aide Vijay Nair allegedly receiving kickbacks on behalf of AAP leaders.
Sisodia changed 4 phones per day: BJP
The ED alleged that Sisodia destroyed his phone and used the ones bought by others. In December last year, the ED claimed that Sisodia and the other accused switched their phones as many as 170 times. Following this, a day before the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections, the BJP alleged that he changed four phones per day and 14 times in a month.
Probe agencies registered case on Delhi L-G's direction
The investigation on AAP leaders was launched in response to Lieutenant Governor (L-G) VK Saxena's order to look into alleged corruption in the policy. The agencies allege that a "South Group" paid Rs. 100 crores in kickbacks to the AAP through Nair, AAP's communication in-charge, in exchange for undue benefits, which the party used for election campaigning in Punjab and Goa.
