The Supreme Court, on August 9, 2024, granted bail to Manish Sisodia, the former Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, in connection with cases registered by ED and CBI over the defunct Delhi excise policy. It is a two-judge bench composed of Justices B.R. Gavai and K.V.Viswanathan. In opposition, it has gone through the fact that Mr. Sisodia had spent 17 months in prison and the commencement of a trial was far from fact.
A bail bond of ₹10 lakh with two sureties was ordered by the court, surrender of his passport, and bi-weekly reporting to the Investigating Officer on Mondays and Thursdays. Mr. Sisodia has also been directed not to influence witnesses or tamper with evidence.
In refusing to restrain ED's request, it did not prevent Mr. Sisodia from visiting the Delhi Secretariat or the Chief Minister's office, as was done previously in the case of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal during his interim bail for election campaigning.
Mr. Sisodia was arrested by the CBI under the Prevention of Corruption Act on 26 February last year and by the ED under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on 9 March of the same year. His bail plea was earlier dismissed by the Delhi High Court on May 30 and by a vacation bench of the Supreme Court on June 4.
However, it gave liberty to Mr. Sisodia to renew his bail plea once the final charge sheet or prosecution complaint is filed by the central agencies in the case.
It is recorded in the June 4 order of the court: "The Solicitor General, at the end of the arguments, assured this Court that the final charge sheet/ prosecution complaint pertaining to the excise policy case will be filed before the Trial Court on or before July 3, 2024.".
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