Excise policy case: Delhi Court sends Sisodia to ED remand till March 17

New Delhi, March 10: Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court on Friday sent former Deputy Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia to ED remand till March 17 in the excise policy case.

This comes after Sisodia appeared in court at 2 p.m. today after being arrested by the ED yesterday after hours of questioning in Tihar Jail, where the AAP leader is being held. During the hearing, senior advocate Dayan Krishnan, who was representing Manish Sisodia, opposed the ED's request for 10-day custody.

The agency has requested a 10-day custody order to question Manish Sisodia and confront other people who have been summoned.

The ED informed the court that Manish Sisodia had purchased SIM cards and mobile phones in the name of other people.

The excise policy was framed as part of a conspiracy. The conspiracy was planned by Vijay Nair and others, and the Excise policy was implemented to provide extraordinary profit margins for wholesalers, ED argued in court.

According to ED, the 12% wholesale profit margin to private entities was never discussed during the GoM meeting.

The investigation agency also informed the court about the meeting between Vijay Nair and K Kavitha (BRS MLC).

According to the ED, accused Butchibabu Gorantla revealed a political settlement between then-Dy CM Manish Sisodia and K Kavitha, who also met with Vijay Nair. Butchibabu is a former auditor for K Kavitha who is currently out on bail.

In response to Sisodia's lawyer's arguments, the ED lawyer told the court that if the policy is a matter of executive, there would be no coal or 2G scams.

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