Manish Sisodia Challenges Arrest, CBI’s Probe In Supreme Court

Manish Sisodia, the deputy chief minister of Delhi, today appealed his arrest by the CBI before the Supreme Court. After hearing Mr. Sisodia’s attorney Abhishek Singhvi speak, Chief Justice DY Chandrachud questioned why they hadn’t first gone to the high court before going directly to the Supreme Court.

Mr. Singhvi mentioned Mr. Sisodia’s petition to the Supreme Court as being motivated by the ruling in the Vinod Dua case. Chief Justice Chandrachud then announced that the case would be heard at 3:50 p.m.

In June 2021, the Supreme Court dismissed a sedition charge brought against journalist Vinod Dua for his criticism of the center’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Mr. Dua had made a direct visit to the Supreme Court.

In the Delhi liquor policy case, a Delhi court yesterday ordered Mr. Sisodia held in the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) custody for five days. In order to examine him about alleged corruption in the creation of the new liquor policy, which was abandoned when Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena raised it, the central agency informed the city court that it needs more time.

Today’s urgent hearing before Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud is anticipated to include discussion of Mr. Sisodia’s challenge.

In a statement made to the Delhi court yesterday, the CBI claimed that Mr. Sisodia has been evading their questioning and is unable to explain at least six problematic clauses in the liquor policy that were not included in the original draught.

The CBI has stated that it is concentrating on the alleged “South Lobby” of businesspeople and politicians who are utilising middlemen, dealers, and bureaucrats to sway the liquor policy in their favour.

Butchibabu Gorantla, a former chartered accountant for K Kavitha, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader and daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, was recently detained by the CBI.

A draught memo that was allegedly discovered on Mr. Sisodia’s computer yesterday, according to the CBI, suggests that the profit margin requirement for liquor companies was increased from 5% to 12%. The CBI claimed that Mr. Sisodia removed the legal expert’s advice from the draught memo before giving it to the excise commissioner.

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