Delhi liquor scam: Some high-profile people may be arrested, CBI opposes Manish Sisodia's bail in court

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday opposed the bail of AAP leader Manish Sisodia and said that some high-profile people may be arrested in the Delhi excise policy case, news agency ANI reported. Sisodia has been in jail since February 2023. The central agency said that an investigation is going on and Sisodia may hamper it. 

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is also probing the liquor scam case and has issued summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The AAP has been claiming that the central agency wants to arrest Kejhriwal in the case. 

On Friday, the ED arrested BRS leader K Kavitha from her Banjara Hills residence in Hyderabad and was brought to Delhi. She was produced before a special PMLA court the next day, which sent her to ED custody until March 23. The agency claims that Kavitha is a key member of the 'South Group', which has been accused of paying the AAP kickbacks of Rs 100 crore in return for a big share of liquor licences in the national capital.   

Last week, the Supreme Court dismissed the curative petitions filed by Sisodia against its verdict dismissing his bail pleas in the corruption and money laundering cases. A curative petition is the last legal recourse in the apex court and is generally considered in-chamber unless a prima facie case is made out for reconsideration of the verdict.

“Application for listing the curative petitions in open court is dismissed. We have gone through the curative petitions and the connected documents. In our opinion, no case is made out within the parameters indicated in the decision of this court in Rupa Ashok Hurra vs Ashok Hurra. The curative petitions are dismissed,” the bench said. 

On October 30 last year, the apex court denied bail to Sisodia, saying the allegations made by the probe agencies - that "windfall gains" of Rs 338 crore were made by a few wholesale distributors - were "tentatively supported" by evidence.

The top court, which termed several charges levelled by the Enforcement Directorate against Sisodia as debatable, had said about the alleged windfall gains that “However, there is one clear ground or charge in the complaint filed under the PML Act, which is free from perceptible legal challenge and the facts as alleged are tentatively supported by material and evidence.”