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that the condition of the petitioner's wife has improved and is stable, the interim applications are dismissed as withdrawn."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He added that the applications were being withdrawn due to his contention regarding suppression.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The court, however, said that without going into any such contention, the application is dismissed as withdrawn.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 cause of the provocation is yet to be ascertained, an official told IANS, adding the situation is under control. Videos of the ruckus were viral on the social media. Many parked vehicles and a nearby police station was pelted on with stones.
The court had, on March 4, extended Sisodia's CBI custody for two days and listed his bail plea for March 10 and in the last two days, the CBI questioned him with key witnesses -- former excise commissioner Arva Gopi Krishna and former excise department secretary C. Arvind -- in this case, who recorded their statements in front of a magistrate.
A police official said that the two men, wearing masks, entered the bank branch at around 9.45 a.m. when only three employees were present there, and threatened the staff with a pistol. They forced the staff to open the vault where Rs 10 lakh was kept and fled with the money by 10.30 am.
The Chief Minister, who reviewed the arrangements for the mega event here, said Punjab is fully ready to host the sessions and asked the officers to ensure foolproof arrangements for the working sessions slated to take place at the holy city of Amritsar next week.
The arrested customers have been identified as Anil, Rajan, Sagir, Abhishek and Harish. The house belongs to one Neeraj Bhati. Police recovered six mobile phones, Rs 2,100 in cash and objectionable items from their possession.
As during over one-hour address in English, the Governor was referring to 36 government school principals being sent on a five-day leadership development programme to Singapore, Bajwa again stood up and reminding Purohit about his letter to Mann on the issue.
