Tag: Sisodia

Delhi excise policy case: Sisodia seeks bail, says he is neither flight risk nor CBI found incriminating evidence

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New Delhi: Former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday sought bail from a city court, saying he was neither a flight risk nor the CBI has found anything incriminating against him in its probe into the alleged irregularities relating to the excise policy, which, he added, was formulated “purely in the normal course.” Special Judge M K Nagpal, who deferred the hearing on Sisodia’s bail plea till March 24 for clarification and submissions, meanwhile issued a notice to the Enforcement Directorate and sought its response by March 25. The money-laundering case being probed by ED is an offshoot of the main case registered by the CBI.
During the hearing, which continued for more than an hour, the lawyers for the senior AAP leader said there was no documentary evidence of him receiving “kickbacks” and the allegation that the accused destroyed documentary evidence was “vague”.
Senior advocates Dayan Krishnan and Mohit Mathur, appearing for Sisodia, said the accused cooperated in the probe and none of the searches led to the seizure of any incriminatory evidence and moreover, there was no further need for his custodial interrogation by the CBI.
The CBI, so far, has quizzed Sisodia in its custody for seven days.
The senior lawyers said Sisodia was not a flight risk and regarding the allegations that the accused manipulated the excise policy, there was no documentary evidence of receiving kickbacks.
They said changes in the excise policy were made “purely in the normal course” and that it was a government policy, which was approved by the Delhi lieutenant governor and the law secretary.
The lawyers also said that Sisodia’s wife was suffering from an incurable disease, for which the medical treatment could only slow the degenerative condition, and that he was the only person to take care of his wife.
Opposing the bail plea, CBI’s special public prosecutor D P Singh said though Sisodia was not a flight risk, he was “definitely” in a position to influence witnesses and destroy evidence. If he is given the relief, “the investigation will be compromised”, Singh said.

“We have only 36 days left to file the chargesheet. Till that time he (Sisodia) being released on bail will scuttle our investigation,” the SPP said.
The prosecutor said Sisodia, who was dealing with an “unprecedented” 18 ministries, implemented the excise policy with “high handedness” in the way he and the representatives of the “south group” wanted. “A person is a saint till the time his irregularities are discovered,” the SPP said. To this, Sisodia’s advocates raised objections.
The SPP said Sisodia was “upset” over an expert committee report on the excise policy and that after seeing a draft cabinet note, he had “flared up” on an excise commissioner and “called a public servant, whatever he could.” Regarding Sisodia’s frequent changing of phones, Singh said these were not “innocent” actions and that phones were changed for the destruction of evidence. Along with phones, the files were also destroyed, the CBI prosecutor said.
He said the note which was put up in the cabinet along with the file containing the minutes of several meetings was missing. Besides staying in a Delhi hotel from March 14 to 17, 2021, the representatives of the “south group” also flew into the national capital by a chartered flight during the days of peak Covid-19, he said.
In the rejoinder submissions, the counsel for Sisodia said while dealing with policy decisions, it has to be kept in mind that merely because a second view was possible, it did not make the decision a crime.
“I am not holding any public post now. In any case, the LG is dealing with civil servants. The issue of control is with the Supreme Court now,” one of the advocates said.
Sisodia is at present in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody.
Earlier, in his bail application, Sisodia stated that he joined the investigation as and when called by the central agencies.
He further stated that no fruitful purpose would be served by keeping him in custody as all the recoveries have already been made, adding that the other accused in this case have already been granted bail.
The CBI on February 26 arrested Sisodia in connection with alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22.
The ED arrested Sisodia on March 9 evening in Tihar jail, where he was lodged in connection with the case being probed by the CBI.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 21, 2023
Sisodia involved in ‘large-scale destruction of digital evidence’: ED claims

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New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate has claimed before a Delhi court that AAP leader and former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia was involved in “large-scale destruction of digital evidence to impede investigation” into the Delhi excise policy case and had changed and destroyed 14 phones.
In its remand application, seeking an extension of Sisodia’s custody, the agency on Friday said 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”.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had arrested Sisodia on March 9 in the Tihar jail, where he was lodged in connection with a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case about alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped policy. The CBI had arrested him on February 26.
The ED is probing money laundering charges against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader.
The application before Special Judge M K Nagapal, who extended Sisodia’s custody by five days, also claimed that the investigation conducted so far indicated that Sisodia is “actually involved in the activity connected to the acquisition, possession and use of proceeds of crime” and “therefore guilty of the offence of money laundering”.
In its application, the ED had sought a seven-day extension in Sisodia’s custody.
The agency alleged that Sisodia had withheld information which is in his “exclusive knowledge” and “extremely relevant to the investigation”.
The facts which emerged after Sisodia’s custodial interrogation included he being “involved in large scale destruction of digital evidence to impede the investigation and to erase evidence”, the application said.

It alleged that during the one-year period of the liquor scam, Sisodia changed or destroyed 14 phones or IMEIs, of which only one phone could be recovered by the CBI and two were produced during interrogation by the ED.
Sisodia changed or destroyed most of these phones right from the day of the complaint by the Delhi lieutenant governor (LG) to the CBI, which was also reported by the media on July 22 last year, the application claimed.
When questioned about the reason for changing a phone on July 22 last year, Sisodia said the phone was damaged, but he was unable to answer regarding what he had done with the broken or damaged phone, it claimed.
“This conclusion of the destruction of mobile phones is based on the fact that these 11 mobile phones or IMEls were not recovered during intensive searches conducted by central investigative agencies or during interrogation,” the ED said.
Sisodia had also used phones purchased in the name of other people so that he had the excuse that the phones were not purchased by him and belonged to others, the application claimed.
“The large-scale destruction of digital evidence was intentionally made to destroy evidence of his involvement in the offence of money laundering by destroying evidence of handling of proceeds of crime, money trail as well as involvement or connection in the process or activities connected with proceeds of crime for the commissioning of the offence of money laundering,” it said.
The application alleged that the “pro-active destruction of evidence” led to the sole inference that Sisodia made “conscious efforts to destroy evidence of the offence of money laundering”.
Claiming that the fixing of a 12 per cent profit margin for wholesalers was made in collusion with a “south group”, the application said from the statements of various officials of the excise department and other material evidence it was found that the group of ministers (GoM) meetings were “only a sham and there was no discussion or decision making in these GoM meetings”.
The “south group” is an alleged liquor cartel that paid kickbacks amounting to about Rs 100 crore to the AAP to gain a larger share of the market in the national capital under the now-scrapped policy 2020-21.
The “south group”, according to the ED, comprises Sarath Reddy (promoter of Aurobindo Pharma), Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy (YSR Congress MP from Ongole in Andhra Pradesh), his son Raghav Magunta, K Kavitha, BRS leader and daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, and others.
“The major recommendations presented in the GoM report (including fixing of 12 per cent commission) were neither discussed nor decided in these so-called GoM meetings. These recommendations which ultimately formed the basis for the excise policy 2021-22 were imported from external sources which Manish Sisodia has not revealed so far,” the application alleged.
It claimed that according to excise department officials, who were interrogated during Sisodia’s custody and also confronted with him, the department did not participate in the decision-making or in the actual drafting of the GoM report.
“The changes in the draft GoM report (from 5 per cent to 12 per cent) which is overlapping with the stay of the members or representatives of the south group…during which period a print was taken at the hotel and a document was handed over by Manish Sisodia is clear proof of the collusion with south group to increase the profit margin of wholesalers from 5 per cent to 12 per cent,” the application claimed.
It alleged that two days prior to the GoM submitting its report to the council of ministers, certain parts of the final GoM report were found in the mobile phones of “south group” members.
It said during Sisodia’s interrogation, he was confronted with various individuals and besides extracting his mobile phone data, the agency also took his iCloud and email dump.
The mail dump contained 1.23 lakh mails and the same was being analysed and needed to be confronted with Sisodia, the application said.
It said other “crucial information” was also revealed during Sisodia’s custody and in view of the findings, the ED had summoned four people to confront the AAP leader with — former excise commissioner Rahul Singh, C Aravind, the then secretary to the deputy chief minister, Amit Arora and Dinesh Arora. Former excise commissioner Rahul Singh is not an accused in the case.
Earlier, the present court had sent Sisodia to one week ED custody on March 10.
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by Siasat staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 18, 2023
Delhi excise policy case: ED likley to confront Sisodia with his PA today

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New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia’s personal assistant (PA), Devender Sharma is likely to join the probe of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the Delhi excise policy scam case on Saturday.
Sharma is likely to be at the probe agency office by 11 a.m.
There are possibilities that Sharma might be confronted with Sisodia. He was summoned on Friday by the ED.
The ED has already got five days more custody of Sisodia in the case. The ED had earlier told the court that during interrogation former Secretary C. Arvind, Excise Secretary Arava Gopi Krishna and Sanjay Goyal were confronted together.
The ED, while seeking more custodial remand of Sisodia, said that C Arvind had to be confronted again. Apart from him, the ED wants to confront witness Dinesh Arora and accused Amit Arora.
The ED has said that they have recovered huge cloud data which they were looking into. Apart from this, the agency also had to get details about the cell phones of all the accused which went missing.
The ED has as of now filed two charge sheets in the matter — a charge sheet and a supplementary charge sheet. They are all set to file a second supplementary charge sheet in the case.

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#Delhi #excise #policy #case #likley #confront #Sisodia #today
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 18, 2023
After ED arrests Sisodia, Kejriwal says ‘people will answer’

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New Delhi: After the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday arrested former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in connection with the 2021-22 Delhi excise policy case, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that people are watching everything and they will give a befitting reply.
Kejriwal said in a tweet that the Centre’s only intention to keep Sisodia behind the bars in any case.
“Manish was first arrested by the CBI. The CBI did not find any evidence, no money was found in the raids. There is a bail hearing tomorrow. Manish would have been released tomorrow. So today ED arrested him. They have only one intention to keep Manish inside at any cost, creating new fake cases everyday. The public is watching and will answer,” Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi.
The ED made the arrest after questioning Sisodia for hours inside the Tihar jail as part of its money laundering probe into the alleged irregularities in the 2021-22 excise policy of Delhi, officials said.
Sisodia was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on March 27 in the same case and he is currently in judicial custody till March 20. His bail plea will come up for hearing before the Rouse Avenue District Courts on Friday.
ED sources told IANS the probe agency has got permission to quiz Sisodia for three days, and it will seek his custodial remand.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 9, 2023
‘Politics of education’ will defeat BJP’s ‘Politics of jail’ : Sisodia in open letter

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New Delhi: Former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday penned an open letter on ‘Politics of Education’ vs ‘Politics of Jail’ while in custody alleging that BJP’s problem with politics of education is that it “builds nations, not leaders.”
He wrote, “It is much easier to throw political opponents in jail than giving quality education to children. BJP’s real problem with politics of education is that it builds nations, not leaders.”
“Politics of education is not an easy task and definitely not a recipe for political success. Today, politics of jail might be winning under the rule of the BJP, but the future belongs to politics of education,” he wrote.
After CBI, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested the Aam Aadmi Party leader on money laundering charges in connection with alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy, official sources said.
The 51-year-old former Delhi education minister was arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) following his second round of questioning at the Tihar jail, they said.
Sisodia has been in judicial custody since the CBI arrested him on February 26 in connection with alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi liquor or excise policy for 2021-22.
The first round of Sisodia’s questioning by the ED took place on March 7.

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#Politics #education #defeat #BJPs #Politics #jail #Sisodia #open #letter
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 9, 2023
Manish Sisodia arrested by ED a day before bail hearing

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Former Delhi deputy chief minister and senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on Thursday in connection with the excise policy case.
Sisodia has been sent to Tihar jail.
(This is a developing story. Refresh for more updates)
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 9, 2023
Delhi excise policy: ED team reaches Tihar Jail to grill Sisodia again

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Delhi: Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials have reached Tihar Jail to once again question former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in connection with the Delhi Excise Policy scam case.
According to the probe agency sources, they have permission to quiz Sisodia for three days.
Earlier, the ED had interrogated the AAP leader on the alleged kickbacks of Rs 100 crore which the party/leaders received through hawala channel from the South Group.
He was also asked about Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Pillai and K. Kavitha — daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.
Sisodia was arrested on February 26 by the CBI and later remanded in judicial custody by Rouse Avenue District Courts.
His bail plea is pending before the court which will be taken up on March 10.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 9, 2023
AAP alleges Sisodia kept with ‘dangerous’ criminals in Tihar jail

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New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party on Wednesday expressed concerns over former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia’s “safety” inside the jail and alleged that he was being kept with “dangerous” criminals, a charge denied by the prison authorities.
AAP national spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged that Sisodia is being kept with other criminals in the Tihar Jail and has been refused “vipassana” cell.
He claimed that despite approval from the court, Sisodia has not been provided the “vipassana” cell.
“There was a request for Manish Sisodia to be kept in the vipassana cell of the jail and it was approved by the court. Despite the court’s approval, Sisodia has been kept with other criminals in jail number 1. The Centre must answer why are they doing this,” Bharadwaj said.
Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh lashed out at the BJP and the Centre and alleged that they have been “misusing” central agencies such as the CBI and the ED.
“BJP and the Centre are full of hatred and they have been misusing the central agencies. Every other day there is news of CBI and ED raids on the opposition leaders. They (BJP) are least bothered about education, health, electricity, water and overall progress of the country,” Singh alleged.
He further alleged that Sisodia has been kept with “dangerous” criminals in the jail and that the party leaders have been “worried about his safety”.
Senior AAP leader Dilip Pandey claimed that court orders have been “defied” and Sisodia has been kept with criminals with “dangerous records” inside the Tihar Jail.

“First, Manish Sisodia was mentally tortured by the central agencies and then he has been kept in Tihar’s jail number 1 with criminals with dangerous records. He is also being pressured to sign the papers where false charges have been framed against him,” he alleged.
Rejecting the Aam Aadmi Party’s allegations as “unfounded”, the Delhi Prison authorities on Wednesday said Sisodia has been lodged in a ward of Central Jail No. 1 of Tihar where there are a minimum number of inmates and no gangsters.
In a statement, the prison authorities said, “Manish Sisodia has been assigned to a segregated ward keeping his security in mind. The ward…has minimum number of inmates who are not gangsters and are maintaining good conduct inside the jail.”
According to jail officials, a separate cell makes it possible for him to meditate or do such other activities without any disturbance.
“All the arrangements, as per jail rules, are in place to ensure his safety and security. Any aspersions cast about his lodgings is unfounded,” an official added.
Sisodia was arrested by the CBI in the excise policy scam case. He is currently in judicial custody.
Reacting to the allegations levelled by the AAP, BJP leader Manoj Tiwari charged that the AAP is “trying to mislead” the public as Tihar Jail comes under the Delhi government’s Department of Prisons.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 8, 2023
Sisodia refused Vipassana cell’ in Tihar jail, alleges AAP’s Saurabh Bharadwaj

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New Delhi: AAP national spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj on Wednesday alleged that party leader Manish Sisodia is being kept with other inmates in jail and has been refused the Vipassana’ cell.
“There was a request for Manish Sisodia to be kept in the vipasana cell of the jail and the same was approved by the court. Despite the court’s approval, Sisodia has been kept with criminals in jail number 1. The Centre must give the answer,” Bharadwaj said.
Sisodia, the former Delhi deputy chief minister and an accused in the excise policy scam, is lodged in a Tihar prison cell for senior citizens.
Officials had earlier said that Sisodia will be lodged inside Tihar Jail Number-1 which is meant for a single person who is a senior citizen.
The court had allowed the senior leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to carry the Bhagavad Gita, spectacles and medicines to jail, and directed the Tihar authorities to consider his request to be allowed to do Vipassana meditation.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 8, 2023
Sisodia given basic items, food as per jail manual: Officials

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New Delhi: Excise scam case accused and former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia is lodged in a Tihar prison cell for senior citizens and like any other inmate, has been given basic items and is being served food as per the prison manual, officials said on Tuesday.
The senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader was brought to the prison here on Monday, shortly after a CBI court remanded him to 14-day judicial custody till March 20 in the case.
A source said Sisodia brought a copy of the Bhagavad Gita along with him. Other items allowed by the court are yet to be received from his home. Sisodia also received some extra clothes on Tuesday, the source added.
On Monday night, he was given basic items such as blankets, soap and oral hygiene products, and for dinner, was served rice, chappati, dal, among others, according to the jail manual, an official said.
Every prison has a library and every inmate is its member. If anyone wants to have a book, they can avail it from there, the officials said.
Before being sent to his cell, he underwent a medical examination, they said.
The court has allowed Sisodia to carry the Bhagavad Gita, a pair of spectacles and medicines to jail and directed the Tihar authorities to consider his request to be allowed to do Vipassana meditation.
The CBI arrested Sisodia last week in connection with alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi liquor policy for 2021-22.

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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 7, 2023