SISODIA IN CUSTODY { }
give a political colour to the issue.
Senior AAP leaders on Monday said that by not seeking custody, the CBI proved it had “no questions left to ask Sisodia”.
“CBI did not find any evidence against Sisodia even after seven days of interrogation, so it did not ask for further custody... Despite conducting raids for over a year, the CBI has not found any evidence against him,” said AAP spokesperson and Kalkaji MLA Atishi.
The judge allowed Sisodia’s application to carry with him his spectacles, the Gita, a diary, a pen, and his medicines. The court also directed the jail superintendent to consider Sisodia’s request for a Vipasana cell “as per provisions contained in the jail manual.”
To be sure, the prison does not have a specific Vipasana cell.
“Tihar had a vipasana ward till the outbreak of Covid-19. But it was closed during the pandemic and could not be restarted. Right now, Tihar has no such vipasana cell or ward, but only meditation halls,” said Sanjay Baniwal, DG (prisons).
“We have allotted him jail number 1, which has a common meditation hall, where any inmate can perform vipasana, yoga or meditation during the stipulated time in the day,” he added
Sisodia’s prison ward is located on the periphery of the Tihar complex and is about 500m from jail 7, where Jain is lodged.
The arrest of Sisodia on February 26 was the most high-profile development in connection with the controversial excise policy in which the federal agency claims kickbacks were paid.
The policy was implemented for the 2021-22 financial year in November 2021, marking the exit of the government from retail sales of alcohol and allowing private companies to bid for licenses. The objective, the Delhi government said, was to improve the buying experience for citizens by allowing market competition to raise standards.
But the policy was scrapped in August last year, soon after lieutenant governor (LG) VK Saxena asked for an investigation. The AAP and the Delhi government rejected the charges, alleging it to be a ploy by the Union government to target its rival.
The agency said its officials recovered two draft policies wherein profit margins (of liquor sale) seemed to have increased from 5% to 12%, and alleged that Sisodia could not satisfactorily explain why. Sisodia’s lawyers refuted this contention by pointing out that this change was part of the note sent to former LG Anil Baijal, who did not raise any objection and signed off on the policy.
In the Rouse Avenue court, CBI accused the AAP of politicising the issue.
“They are giving it a political colour, without waiting for orders they are giving bytes to the media... whenever searches were being conducted, warrants were taken from the court, accused are being produced before the court, whatever is being done is with the permission of the court and yet they are saying everything is illegal,” said the CBI counsel.
The arguments were opposed by Mohit Mathur and Siddharth Aggarwal, who represented Sisodia. Aggarwal said, “CBI should first put its own house in order.”
On February 27, Sisodia was produced before the Rouse Avenue Court and sent to CBI custody for five days. This custody was further extended for two days on Saturday.
On Tuesday, Sisodia approached the Supreme Court seeking bail and quashing of the first information report, but the apex court refused to intervene and pointed out that he had sufficient legal remedies to exhaust before approaching the top court.
Three days later, Sisodia moved a bail application before the Rouse Avenue court, citing that no fruitful purpose would be served by keeping him in custody, and that all the other co-accused in the matter were granted bail. The court sought CBI’S reply to the bail application and listed it for further hearing on March 10.
Sisodia, who held 18 portfolios, is the most high-profile AAP minister to be arrested by the federal agency. Hours after the apex court refused to intervene in the case, he resigned from his position.
Since his arrest, the AAP has held protests in Delhi, Chandigarh, Bhopal, Jaipur, Srinagar, Jammu, Kolkata, Mumbai and other cities, and found support from several rivals of BJP, including the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS), Communist Party of India (Marxist) and leaders of the Congress — all of whom deplored the alleged “misuse” of federal law enforcement agencies by the BJP.