Senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia will remain in jail for another six months as the Supreme Court today denied him bail in the Delhi liquor policy case. A money trail of Rs 338 crore has been identified in the case, the court noted and ordered that the trial be completed within six to eight months.
Mr Sisodia may apply for bail again if the trial progresses slowly, a two-judge bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti said.
“We have referred to the arguments and some legal questions, but we have not answered most of them. In the analysis, there are certain aspects that are questionable regarding the transfer of Rs 338 crore transfer. We have rejected the bail,” Justice Khanna said.
BJP MP Manoj Tiwari said the Supreme Court’s denial of bail to Mr Sisodia makes it clear that the AAP leadership is involved in corruption. “Arvind Kejriwal will definitely be arrested as the AAP leadership is involved in corruption,” Tiwari said.
Mr Sisodia, a top aide to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, was arrested in February in connection with the alleged liquor racket and has been in jail since then.
He is facing two cases – one by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the other by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), but he denied any wrongdoing.
Mr Sisodia, who was deputy chief minister in the Kejriwal government at the time of his arrest, resigned from the cabinet on February 28. At the time, he managed eighteen portfolios, including the Excise Department.
The AAP had earlier said that Mr Sisodia’s arrest was an “attack on the Delhi model of governance”.