A Delhi court on Wednesday extended till May 21 the judicial custody of senior AAP leader and former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in a money laundering case related to the alleged excise scam.
Special Judge Kaveri Baweja extended Mr. Sisodia’s custody after he was produced before the court through videoconference.
Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday granted more time to the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation to respond to Mr. Sisodia’s pleas seeking bail in the corruption and money laundering cases lodged by the Central agencies against him.
The court had on May 3 issued notices to the two agencies asking them to file their responses to the AAP leader’s petitions. On Wednesday, the agencies informed the court that they needed some more time to respond.
Mr. Sisodia’s counsel opposed the agencies’ request, saying the ED and the CBI had assured the Supreme Court that the trial would be concluded much earlier.
The court granted four more days to the agencies to file their replies and posted the hearing in the matter for May 14.
During the hearing on Wednesday, the ED counsel said the investigating officer is “neck-deep” in the probe and that the agency is in the process of filing a supplementary chargesheet in the case.
The former Deputy CM had approached the High Court after a trial court refused to grant him bail in the matter on April 30, saying the stage was not right to grant him relief.
Mr. Sisodia was arrested by the CBI on February 26 last year for his alleged role in the excise policy ‘scam’.
