The Supreme Court of India dismissed the bail plea of former Delhi Deputy State Chief and senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) politician Manish Sisodia in corruption and money-laundering cases related to the Delhi liquor policy case on Monday.
Bail was denied by the two-judge bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti.
The court denied the bail because a money trail of INR 3.38Bln (approximately $40Mln) has been tentatively established in the case.
“We have referred to the arguments and some of the legal questions but we have not answered most of them. In the analysis, there are certain aspects which are doubtful, and the transfer of INR 3.38Bln has been tentatively established. We have rejected the bail,” Justice Khanna said pronouncing judgement.
However, the bench further said that it has been assured by the prosecution that the trial will be concluded within six to eight months so if the trial proceeds slowly, within three months Sisodia will be entitled to file an application for bail.
On 26 February, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Sisodia for his alleged role in the Delhi liquor policy scam. He was subsequently arrested on 9 March by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money-laundering case related to the liquor policy scam.
However, the AAP has denied any wrongdoing whereas the federally ruling BJP has come out all guns firing at the party and its national convenor Arvind Kejriwal over the liquor policy.