A city court on Saturday extended the judicial custody of Aam Aadmi Party leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia till April 18 in a money laundering case related to the alleged liquorgate policy scam.
Earlier, arguing in the bail matter, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) special counsel Zoheb Hossain on Saturday submitted to the court, that the accused persons including former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia were making deliberate and concerted attempts to delay the trial in Delhi excise policy case. Hossain said that a total of 95 “frivolous applications” were filed by various accused persons, including 6 by Sisodia, which were dismissed by the court. “This is only to show that one accused or the other along with the nature of the applications demonstrates that there was a concerted effort on behalf of accused persons to ensure that trial does not commence,” he said.
“It will be a weighty factor that if at all there has been any delay, it is at the instance of the accused persons and not the prosecution,” he said. Hossain made submissions on the aspect of delay in trial as Senior Advocate Mohit Mathur argued on the same on behalf of Sisodia. He added: “According me, disposing of 95 applications is by no measure a snail's pace.”
“If at all there is any kind of delay, it is at the instance of the accused and not prosecution. That will be a weighty factor to be considered… A total of 95 applications were filed by the accused persons. Some of them have the same prayers, some piecemeal. Present accused (Sisodia) has filed six applications… All these frivolous applications are being filed and these play a crucial role in the time being consumed,” Hossain contended. The ED counsel described the filing of multiple applications as a concerted effort to delay the commencement of trial.
“Delays are being caused deliberately… The fact that there were applications being moved belatedly has been noted by this court and there is no explanation by them... At every stage there has been cooperation from our side... For the last one-month, inspection (of documents) has been going on in the most lackadaisical manner,” he said. After the arguments, Special Judge Kaveri Baweja extended Sisodia's judicial custody after he was produced before the court on the expiry of the judicial custody granted earlier.
Sisodia’s colleague Sanjay Singh, a co-accused who was recently granted bail by the Supreme Court in the case, also appeared before the court for the proceedings. In another development, another accused BRS leader K Kavitha, moved a court here on Saturday opposing a CBI plea that sought her interrogation in Tihar jail in a corruption case related to the alleged scam. The court on Friday allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to quiz Kavitha in Tihar. The order was passed on the plea filed by the CBI seeking the court's permission to interrogate Kavitha in judicial custody.
