Delhi court reserves order on Sisodia's regular bail pleas; he withdraws interim plea to campaign for LS polls

New Delhi, April 20 (IANS) AAP leader and former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister, Manish Sisodia, on Friday withdrew his interim bail application to campaign for his party for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls

Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court also reserved its verdict for April 30 on regular bail pleas of Sisodia, who is an accused in the money laundering case related to the alleged excise policy scam.

He has sought bail in cases being investigated by both the probe agencies – Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Before the court of Special Judge Kaveri Baweja, Sisodia’s counsel Advocate Vivek Jain said that the interim bail plea has become infructuous as the regular bail pleas are being reserved.

Special counsel Zoheb Hossain and prosecutor Pankaj Gupta appeared for the ED and CBI, respectively.

Opposing the bail pleas, prosecutor Gupta said that Sisodia does not satisfy the rigours of grant of bail under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Claiming that the AAP leader has political clout, the prosecutor said that he is influential, and is also not entitled to parity.

The central probe agency accused Sisodia of being a main accused in the case and said that he might tamper with the evidence of the probe, which is at a nascent stage on certain key aspects.

Arguing that he hasn’t gotten bail from the High Court and the Supreme Court earlier, Gupta said that if he gets bail now, when the probe is in a nascent stage, it will solve his motive.

Sisodia’s bail application has been pending since February. His judicial custody was also extended on Thursday till April 26.

Last time, the ED had contended that Sisodia and the other accused persons were delaying the trial in the case.

Citing the bail granted to another accused, Benoy Babu, Sisodia’s counsel Mohit Mathur had argued for Sisodia's bail, saying that he no longer holds a position of influence.

He had also stressed that Sisodia met the triple test for bail, as outlined by the Supreme Court, and urged for a speedy trial.

Mathur further said that Sisodia's eligibility for bail is established, given the fulfilment of all necessary conditions and the absence of any misuse of liberties, as per the Supreme Court's guidelines.