Excise policy case: Court extends Sisodia’s judicial custody, allows him to visit ailing wife

Special judge M K Nagpal also extended the judicial custody of Sisodia till February 22 after he was produced before the court on the expiry of his remand granted earlier

New Delhi: A court here on Monday allowed senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia, arrested in a Delhi excise policy case, to visit his ailing wife once a week while in custody.

Special judge M K Nagpal also extended the judicial custody of Sisodia till February 22 after he was produced before the court on the expiry of his remand granted earlier.

---

The judge passed the order while adjourning his bail application in excise policy-related cases filed by the CBI and the ED.

Sisodia had sought custody parole to visit his ailing wife twice a week.

The judge, meanwhile, directed the CBI to file a detailed status report about its further investigation in connection with the alleged excise policy case by February 22, the next date of hearing.

The judge passed the direction to the CBI after the defence counsel objected to “non-full disclosure” about the status of the investigation.

During the proceedings, the CBI filed a report stating that the investigation is ongoing and at a crucial stage, adding that the probe regarding the 16 charge-sheeted accused has been completed.

Further investigation is ongoing against the other accused and suspects in the case, the probe agency said, submitting that the court may fix the matter for arguments on the charge.

The defence counsel opposed the submission made by the CBI, saying that the status report is incomplete.

“We received the translated copies of documents today only and we need time to scrutiny,” he said.

There is no point of arguments on charge without completion of the investigation, he added.

The court has also directed the CBI to get the software installed in the laptops of defence counsel in order to allow them to access the bulky files related to the case.

The CBI on February 26 last year arrested Sisodia in connection with alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22, following which he quit as Delhi deputy chief minister.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 9 arrested Sisodia in Tihar jail in a money laundering case arising out of the excise policy matter.