Supreme Court Grants Bail To Manish Sisodia In Alleged Excise Policy Scam In Delhi

The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia in the corruption and money laundering cases related to the Delhi excise policy scam. The Court set the following bail conditions, Furnish a ₹10 lakh bail bond with two sureties, Surrender his passport to the police, Report to the investigating officer twice a week – on Mondays and Thursdays, Avoid influencing witnesses or tampering with evidence. The Court denied the Enforcement Directorate's request to restrict Sisodia’s access to the secretariat or chief minister’s office, as had been done for Arvind Kejriwal.SC ruled that it would be unjust to force Sisodia to seek bail from lower courts and emphasized that bail should be the norm, not jail. Sisodia, former Delhi deputy chief minister, was arrested by the CBI on February 26, 2023, for alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy. He was later arrested by the ED on March 9, 2023, for money laundering.He resigned from the Delhi cabinet on February 28 last year and has been in custody for 17 months without a trial starting.He has now been granted bail in both cases separately investigated by the ED and CBI.