Manish Sisodia, a former deputy chief minister of Delhi, was denied interim bail by the Supreme Court on Friday in the matter involving the Delhi excise policy that is being investigated independently by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
The Supreme Court postponed the interim bail requests of Sisodia in the matter being looked into by the two central investigation agencies until September 4.
Sisodia has requested temporary release on bail due to his wife’s failing health.
The medical records of Sisodia’s wife were reviewed by a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti, who concluded that she was fairly stable and that the interim bail requests of the former deputy chief minister as well as regular bail requests will be taken into consideration in the cases.
The bench was briefed about the state of Sisodia’s wife’s health by senior attorney Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who represented Sisodia in court. “The illness progresses. Relapses happen. Since April, she has been in the hospital, he added.
He claimed that the son of Sisodia’s wife resided in the US and that she shared a home with an even older mother.
Sisodia should take care of her while he is away from home for a few weeks, Singhvi advised.
Justice Khanna responded by saying, we will take it up when we hear the regular bail.
On July 14, the Supreme Court requested comments from the CBI and the ED about Sisodia’s interim bail requests.
The CBI detained Sisodia on February 26 for his alleged involvement in the scam, one of the numerous portfolios he managed while serving as the deputy chief minister. Sisodia also controlled the excise portfolio. Since then, he has been in police detention.
On March 9, after questioning him in Tihar Jail, the ED took him into custody in connection with a money laundering case arising from the CBI FIR.
On February 28, Sisodia resigned from the Delhi cabinet.