Excise Scam: Delhi court extends Sisodia's custody

New Delhi: A special Delhi court on Monday extended the judicial custody of AAP leader Manish Sisodia in the corruption and money laundering cases lodged by the CBI and the ED respectively in the alleged excise scam. Special Judge M K Nagpal extended the custody of Sisodia in CBI case till April 27 and in the ED case till April 29, after he was produced before the court on expiry of his judicial custody granted in the two cases earlier.

During the hearing, Special Public Prosecutor Naveen Kumar Matta, appearing for the ED, told the judge the anti-money laundering federal agency is likely to file a supplementary charge sheet against Sisodia and other co-accused Arun Pillai and Amandeep Dhal by the end of this month.

The court is scheduled to hear arguments on Sisodia's bail application in the money laundering case tomorrow. The special court had on March 31 dismissed his bail application in the corruption case, saying he was "prima facie the architect" in the criminal conspiracy behind alleged payment of advance kickbacks of around Rs 90-100 crore, meant for him and his colleagues in the Delhi government.

The court had observed the release of the senior AAP leader, at the moment, will "adversely affect the ongoing investigation". The CBI and the ED had arrested Sisodia for alleged corruption in the formulation and execution of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 and for laundering the money so generated.