NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday opposed the bail plea of AAP leader and Delhi's former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, and said that they have prescribed 60 days to file the chargesheet after the arrest.
"Sisodia was arrested on February 26, 2023, and if released on bail now, he will jeopardize our investigation as the destruction of evidence was a constant practice," the agency claimed.
CBI said, "If he is granted bail, it will scuttle and compromise our investigation as the influence and interference is writ large."
The CBI, said he had dealt with 'unprecedented' 18 ministries and while he may not be a flight risk but he is definitely a risk for evidence destruction.
Special Public Prosecutor for CBI, Advocate DP Singh submitted that Manish Sisodia said that he destroyed phones because he wanted to upgrade. However, there was no upgradation done, Singh claimed.
Singh submitted that frequently changing phones was not at all an innocent act but deliberately done for destruction of evidences in the case.
"Probe agency has 60 days to file the chargesheet in the case and if Manish Sisodia comes out, investigation will be seriously compromised," he said, adding that Sisodia is definitely in a position to influence witnesses and destroy evidence in the case.
ALSO READ | Delhi excise policy case: BRS leader Kavitha appears before ED, surrenders phones to agency
Sisodia's counsel, Senior Advocate Dayan Krishnan, on the other hand, said his custodial interrogation was no longer required and he was not a flight risk. "I am a public servant but two other public servants, against whom allegations are graver have not been arrested," his counsel contended on his behalf.
The lawyer for Sisodia further said there's no documentary evidence of receiving kickbacks against him and the change in the excise policy is purely in normal course.
He said the matter of change in excise policy went to the Delhi LG and the finance secretary among others.
Sisodia's counsel told the court that all the offences alleged entails less than seven years of imprisonment in the case and any further incarceration is not justified.
Sisodia's lawyer also cited the medical condition of the wife and said, the wife is not well as she suffers from multiple sclerosis.
Manish Sisodia in his bail petition in a trial court had stated that no fruitful purpose would be served to keep him in custody as all the recoveries have already been made. He also stated that he had joined the investigation as and when called for by the CBI. The other accused persons arrested in this case have already been granted bail.
READ MORE | Now, CBI lodges FIR against Manish Sisodia in Delhi govt snooping case
The Rouse Avenue Court earlier while sending Sisodia to CBI remand directed that the interrogation of the accused during the remand period shall be conducted at some place having CCTV coverage in accordance with guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court and that the said footage shall be preserved by the CBI.
Sisodia was arrested by the CBI and the ED (Enforcement Directorate) in an ongoing investigation of a case related to alleged irregularities in the framing and implementation of the excise policy of GNCTD.
Earlier, the trial court observed that the accused had joined the investigation of this case on two earlier occasions, but it has also been observed that he has failed to provide satisfactory answers to most of the questions put to him during his examination and interrogation conducted and has thus, failed to legitimately explain the incriminating evidence which has allegedly surfaced against him in the investigation conducted so far.
On Monday, Sisodia's judicial custody was extended till April 3 by the Delhi court in the excise policy case being probed by the CBI.
He is at present in the Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody in a related case.
The ED had arrested Sisodia on March 9 evening in the Tihar jail, where he was lodged in connection with the case being probed by the CBI pertaining to alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy for 2021-22.
The CBI had arrested Sisodia on February 26.
READ MORE | 'Why is Sisodia in Tihar Jail cell No 1 with murderers': AAP cries 'political murder' conspiracy
(With PTI, ANI inputs)
