Manish Sisodia to celebrate Diwali in jail as SC refuses bail in Delhi liquor scam

Aam Aadmi Party leader and former Delhi deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia received a big blow from the Supreme Court on Monday when his bail plea was rejected by the apex court.

The Supreme Court had heard the bail plea of the AAP leader earlier and had reserved its verdict. After the hearing, the court rejected the bail petition filed by Sisodia. A bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice SVN Bhatti delivered the verdict on the cases being investigated against Sisodia through the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Even though the Supreme Court rejected Sisodia's petition, it directed the investigating agency to complete the case against Sisodia within 6 to 8 months. If the trial process remains slow, Sisodia will be entitled to file a petition for bail again within three months. In such a situation, one thing became clear that the AAP leader will spend his Diwali in jail.

The apex court had earlier asked several questions to the CBI and ED regarding the alleged Delhi Excise Policy and the cases against Sisodia. Sisodia has been in jail since February in an alleged liquor scam. The Supreme Court had earlier this month reserved its decision on Sisodia's bail plea. Sisodia has sought bail in two separate cases against him. Out of these, one case has been filed by CBI and the other case by ED.

AAP has accused the centre of hounding its leaders through the central investigative agencies and refuted all allegations levelled by the ED. Another senior AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh is also currently lodged in jail.

The opposition leaders have been attacking the BJP of misusing central agencies to target its leaders a charge vehemently denied by the BJP.