New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party alleges misbehaviour by cop as Manish Sisodia denied bail

New Delhi : A Delhi court on Tuesday extended till June 1 the judicial custody of Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia in a money laundering case related to the alleged excise scam.

The judge also directed the jail authorities to consider providing the politician a chair and a table along with books inside the prison.

While Sisodia was being brought out of the courtroom, he told the media in reference to a bill to replace the Centre's Ordinance on Delhi's Services matter that Prime Minister Narendra Modi 'does not believe in democracy'.

"Modi has become very arrogant," the former deputy chief minister charged.

The Delhi government implemented the excise policy on November 17, 2021 but scrapped it at the end of September 2022 amid allegations of corruption.

Sisodia is an accused in the cases lodged by both the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the matter. Meanwhile, the AAP alleged that a policeman misbehaved with Sisodia at the Rouse Avenue court in New Delhi. The Delhi Police has dismissed the charge as propaganda.

AAP leader Atishi posted a video of the alleged incident on Twitter and wrote: 'Shocking misbehaviour by this policeman with Manish in Rouse Avenue Court. Delhi Police should suspend him immediately.'

Slamming the police, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said, 'Do the police have the right to misbehave with Manish Sisodia like this? Have the police been instructed to do this?'

The Delhi Police dismissed the charge as 'propaganda' and said it is 'against the law' for an accused in judicial custody to issue statements to the media.

'The matter of policeman misbehaving with Manish Sisodia in the Rouse Avenue court is propaganda. The policeman's reaction as seen in the video was natural from the security point of view. It is against the law for an accused to issue statements to the media,' the police said in a tweet. AAP leader Sanjay Singh alleged that the police 'misbehaved' with Sisodia in order to 'please their boss'.

He further said the court should take cognisance of the incident.

'Police hooliganism at its peak. This police officer was pulling Manish Sisodia by his neck in order to please his boss. Hon'ble court should take cognisance of this incident. Modiji, the entire country is watching your dictatorship,' he said in a tweet in Hindi.