Excise policy scam: Manish Sisodia's judicial custody extended till April 3

Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court on Monday extended the judicial custody of former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia by 14 days till April 3 in the CBI case. Sisodia is facing a probe by the CBI and ED for his alleged role in the liquor scam. He was arrested by the CBI on February 26 and was sent to judicial custody. But days later, the ED, which is probing the money laundering angle, arrested him. He is presently on the ED remand till March 22.

The CBI arrested Sisodia in connection with alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi liquor or excise policy for 2021-22. The central probe agency had recorded the statement of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader for the first time on March 7 for about five hours.

It is alleged that the Delhi government's excise policy to grant licences to liquor traders allowed cartelisation and favoured certain dealers, who had allegedly paid bribes for it, a charge strongly refuted by the AAP. The policy was later scrapped and the Delhi LG recommended a CBI probe following which the ED booked a case against the same accused under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).