Last Updated: March 10, 2023, 07:51 AM IST
The former minister will be produced before special CBI judge M K Nagpal on Friday to hear his bail application. (Image: PTI)
Sisodia was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday after his second round of questioning at Tihar Jail in connection with its money laundering probe into alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy
Delhi’s former Deputy Chief Minister and AAP leader Manish Sisodia will be produced before a CBI court on Friday for a bail hearing. Sisodia was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday after his second round of questioning at Tihar Jail in connection with its money laundering probe into alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy.
The former minister will be produced before special CBI judge M K Nagpal on Friday to hear his bail application nearly two weeks after he was arrested in connection with the Delhi excise scam.
Nagpal, who sent Sisodia to judicial custody on March 6, had directed the CBI to file its response to the AAP leader’s application by March 10.
In his application, Sisodia stated that he joined the investigation as and when called for by the central probe agency. He further stated that no fruitful purpose would be served by keeping him in custody as all the recoveries have already been made, adding that the other accused persons arrested in this case have already been granted bail.
ED sources said Sisodia was arrested as they found evidence of money laundering against him. They also said he was “evasive” in his replies and was “not cooperating in the probe”.
What Happens if Sisodia Gets Bail?
The ED is expected to obtain a production warrant from a special PMLA court and then produce Sisodia before it on Friday seeking his custody for interrogation. Even if Sisodia gets bail in the CBI case, the ED can seek his custody.
If the ED gets his custody, he will be taken to the agency’s headquarters in central Delhi for questioning and further recording of his statement and confrontation with other accused in the excise policy case.
The ED obtained a local court’s permission to question the politician, who till recently was the deputy CM of Delhi, in cell number 1 of the jail.
Sisodia’s Letter from Jail
Sisodia on Thursday penned an open letter on ‘Politics of Education’ vs ‘Politics of Jail’ while in custody alleging that BJP’s problem with politics of education is that it “builds nations, not leaders.”
Sharing the letter on Twitter, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal wrote, “BJP does politics of putting people in jail, we are doing politics of educating children. It is easy to send to jail, very difficult to teach children. The nation will progress by education, not by sending to jail.”
Sisodia in his letter wrote, “It is much easier to throw political opponents in jail than giving quality education to children. BJP’s real problem with politics of education is that it builds nations, not leaders.”
“Politics of education is not an easy task and definitely not a recipe for political success. Today, politics of jail might be winning under the rule of the BJP, but the future belongs to politics of education,” he wrote.
Sisodia has been in judicial custody since the CBI arrested him on February 26 in connection with alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi liquor or excise policy for 2021-22.
The first round of Sisodia’s questioning by the ED took place on March 7.
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