Excise case: Court to consider supplementary charge sheet on May 19

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Wednesday adjourned to May 19 hearing on consideration of Enforcement Directorate (ED)’s supplementary charge filed against AAP leader and former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in connection with the Delhi excise policy case.

On May 6, the probe agency had informed the Special Judge M.K. Nagpal of Rouse Avenue Court that proceeds of a crime worth Rs 622 crore was generated due to the activities of the accused as excise minister. ,The ED has alleged that Sisodia was the mastermind behind the entire excise policy case and that he had deliberately leaked the policy to the co-accused to generate financial kickbacks.

Sisodia is currently in judicial custody. On Monday, Judge Nagpal extended Sisodia’s judicial custody till May 23. The ED had arrested Sisodia on March 9 after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested him on February 26 this year.

Last month, Special CBI Judge M. K. Nagpal of Rouse Avenue Court had denied bail to Sisodia, holding that the evidence, prima facie, “speaks volumes” of his involvement in the offence.

Last week, High Court judge Dinesh Kumar Sharma sought the ED’s response to Sisodia’s bail plea and another application seeking interim bail on the ground of his wife’s ill-health and listed the matter for further consideration on May 11. In the case being probed by the CBI, Delhi court extended Sisodia’s judicial custody till May 12.

–IANS