Sisodia withdraws interim bail pleas filed before Delhi HC to help his ailing wife
Darpan News Desk IANS, 24 May, 2023 12:25 PM
New Delhi, May 24 (IANS) Former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday withdrew his interim bail pleas filed before the Delhi High Court in connection with the corruption and money laundering cases being probed by the CBI and ED related to the excise policy.
The bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma said: "Noting that the condition of the petitioner's wife has improved and is stable, the interim applications are dismissed as withdrawn."
The senior AAP leader had moved the high court on April 3, seeking interim bail in the case on the grounds of his wife's illness.
The same single-judge bench had on May 11 directed the jail superintendent to provide Sisodia with a video conferencing facility to speak to his wife every alternate day between 3-4 p.m. as per prison rules, till the disposal of the bail plea.
Additional Solicitor General S. V. Raju said he had earlier argued suppression as it was not mentioned in the application that the wife was discharged.
He added that the applications were being withdrawn due to his contention regarding suppression.
"This is not a simple withdrawal," Raju said.
The court, however, said that without going into any such contention, the application is dismissed as withdrawn.
Appearing for Sisodia, Senior Advocate Mohit Mathur while resuming arguments on his client's regular bail plea in the money laundering case, said the general rule is that bail has to be granted.
A Delhi court on Tuesday extended Sisodia's judicial custody till June 1 in the case being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate.
The jail authorities were also directed to consider his request to provide him a chair and table for study purposes.
On May 12, the court extended Sisodia's judicial custody till June 2, in the case being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
The ED had arrested Sisodia on March 9, after the CBI arrested him on February 26 this year.
Last month, Special Judge M.K. Nagpal had denied bail to the AAP leader holding that the evidence, prima facie, "speaks volumes" of his involvement in the commission of the offence.
The police have arrested six persons in this connection, out of whom two are residents of Liluah in Howrah district, two are from Maharashtra and one from Gujarat. The police suspect that besides running the fake call centre, the arrested persons were also involved in illegal hawala transactions.
A forensic science lab team also reached the spot and inspected the suitcase and the spot where the body was found. The hands and the feet of the victim were tied with a rope, a police officer said, not ruling out the possibility of foul play in the case.
The officials said that some dreaded criminals were lodged in the same ward, adding that Sisodia has not raised any complaint in food or other things so far. Sisodia, who was arrested on February 26 in the Delhi excise policy case, was lodged in the cell on Monday after due formalities which included some medical tests.
Special public prosecutor (SPP) Amit Prasad argued the charges against Poonawala. It was submitted that the accused is a trained chef from Taj Hotel and is aware of preserving the flesh. Poonawala had also ordered dry ice, agarbatti etc. after killing Shraddha Walker, the police said.
Carrying placards, father Balkaur Singh and mother Charan Kaur told the media it has been almost a year of the crime occurrence and the main culprits have not been arrested.They demanded that the case should be investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as crucial witnesses "are being eliminated and nothing is going in their favour."
The accused were identified as Mohd. Danish (33) and Danish alias Raja (30), both residents of Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh. Police have also recovered five high end luxury cars and SUVs from the possession of the accused.
