The Supreme Court reserved its decision on bail petitions filed by AAP leader Manish Sisodia on Tuesday while asking the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for clarity on the expected timeline for resolving the corruption and money laundering cases related to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.
With a total of 493 witnesses involved, the apex court sought answers on the duration needed to wrap up the trials.
Supreme Court Asks For 'End Of Tunnel' In Delhi Excise Policy Case
Supreme Court bench comprising of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan asked, "There are 493 witnesses. Assuming even if you drop 50 per cent of them, it comes to nearly 250. Realistically, tell us where do you see the end of the tunnel?" to Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S V Raju, who was representing the probe agencies.
Raju said there were eight important witnesses each in the cases lodged by the CBI and the ED in the matter.
The bench asked, "When can the trial commence?"
To that, Raju responded, "Within a month of the framing of charges, these (eight) witnesses can be examined."
He argued there were some witnesses who were threatened by some of the other co-accused in these cases.
The law officer said Sisodia's claim that delay in these cases was attributable to the probe agencies was not correct.
"The trial could have started. Our further probe was for something else. The charge sheet against him (Sisodia) has been filed so the trial could have proceeded," Raju said, adding that Sisodia has not filed any application seeking discharge in these cases.
He said delay in the progress of these cases has happened as Sisodia and other accused had filed several applications before the trial court seeking documents which were not relied upon by the prosecuting agencies.
The bench observed that none of applications have been rejected by the court terming them as frivolous or intended to delay the trial.
What Did Sisodia's Counsel Say?
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Sisodia, said the probe agencies have not earlier raised apprehension about tampering of evidence.
"We are aware that in every bail matter, there is allegation of tampering of evidence," the bench observed.
Singhvi said the arguments advanced by the prosecution was purely a "sham" and were not raised ever earlier before the high court or the trial court.
He said such arguments were raised on Tuesday before the apex court to defeat Sisodia's release.
Manish Sisodia Linked With Delhi Excise Policy | Details
Sisodia was arrested by the CBI on February 26, 2023, for his alleged involvement in irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy 2021-22. The ED arrested him in the money laundering case stemming from the CBI FIR on March 9, 2023.
He resigned from the Delhi cabinet on February 28, 2023.
Sisodia, a former deputy chief minister of Delhi, has sought bail contending that he has been in custody for 17 months and the trial against him has not yet started.
The ED and the CBI have opposed his bail pleas.
During the arguments on Monday, the ED had claimed before the apex court that it has documents to show Sisodia's "neck-deep involvement" in the alleged scam and it was not a "fabricated case" as there were a lot of evidence which indicated his direct involvement.
Highlighting the delay in the progress of these cases, Singhvi had argued that there were a total of 493 witnesses and 69,000 pages of documents in the corruption and money maundering cases lodged by the CBI and the ED, respectively.
The apex court on July 16 agreed to hear Sisodia's pleas and sought responses from the CBI and the ED.
Sisodia had earlier moved the apex court challenging the Delhi High Court's May 21 order dismissing his bail pleas. He had challenged in the high court a trial court's April 30 order rejecting his bail applications in the two cases.
