NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court’s new three-judge bench, led by Justice B R Gavai, on Tuesday, issued notice to CBI, and ED and sought their detailed respective replies on hearing the bail pleas filed by Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister, Manish Sisodia seeking bail related to corruption and money laundering charges in excise policy case.

Following the recusal of Justice Sanjiv Kumar last week in the case, a new bench was constituted by the CJ, who set up a three-judge bench, headed by Justice Gavai, and Justices Sanjay Karol and KV Viswanathan to hear Sisodia’s bail pleas today.

The bench, while seeking replies from the ED and CBI, fixed the matter for further hearing next to July 29.

During the hearing on Tuesday, advocate Vivek Jain, pleaded to the apex court that this court should grant his client the bail. “I have been inside (Tihar jail) for 16 months. The trial is at the same speed that was in October 2023. This is not like an NDPS case. The trial is at snail’s pace. This court order says that if no fault of Sisodia then I may approach SC,” Jain told the apex court.

The AAP leader, Sisodia on last Monday moved the Apex court and filed an application to revive a disposed-of petition which was filed earlier seeking bail in the Delhi excise case. Sisodia is seeking bail in the Delhi excise case involving CBI and ED. 

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had registered the case against Sisodia in the now-scrapped Delhi liquor excise policy 2021-22, naming him as one of the accused in the case.  Sisodia had in the month of May first week moved the Delhi High Court challenging the Rouse Avenue Court’s April 30 order of dismissal of his bail in the Delhi liquor scam case, probed by the CBI and ED.

Sisodia is presently in judicial custody in both the cases registered by the CBI and the ED in the Delhi Excise Policy case.

Singhvi submitted to the court that the former Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister is languishing in jail for even more than a year, as he was arrested on February 26, 2023, for the alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 following several rounds of questioning. “He is innocent in the case. He has no role in the Delhi liquor case,” he told the Court.

Sisodia was denied bail by the trial court, Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court in both ED and CBI cases. The Supreme Court had also dismissed Sisodia’s review petition, as he sought bail. His curative petition has also been dismissed. So far, he failed to get any relief from the courts in the case.

 In March, the trial court had dismissed his bail plea saying he (Manish Sisodia) was prima facie the “architect” of the alleged scam and had played the “most important and vital role” in the criminal conspiracy related to alleged payment of advance kickbacks of nearly Rs 100 crore meant for him and his colleagues in the Delhi government.

The Supreme Court had on December 14 last year, in its order rejected his plea seeking review of its earlier decision of October 30, denying him bail in the case.