"Respect Supreme Court But...": AAP After Manish Sisodia Denied Bail

After the Supreme Court dismissed Manish Sisodia's bail plea today in connection with cases related to alleged irregularities in the Delhi Excise Policy case, Aam Adami Party (AAP) minister Atishi said that her party does not "agree" with the court order.

The AAP will study the order and explore legal options, she said at a press conference.

"We respect the Supreme Court but we do not agree with the order dismissing Manish Sisodia's bail plea. We will study it and explore legal options," she said.

The Delhi minister reiterated that her party has been and will remain honest, stressing no AAP leader is corrupt.

"Not even a single leader of AAP is corrupt. The AAP was honest, is honest, and will remain an honest party," she said.

Meanwhile, the BJP claimed that the court order proves corruption is steeped in the AAP and soon the Delhi Chief Minister will be arrested.

"After this decision, it has been proved that Manish Sisodia and AAP are full of corruption... Now the arrest of top leaders of AAP is near... Arvind Kejriwal too will get arrested," the BJP's Lok Sabha MP, Manoj Tiwary said.

In February 2023, Manish Sisodia was arrested by the Centreal Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for alleged irregularities in the framing and implementation of Delhi's new excise policy, which was withdrawn amid allegations of foul play by the Opposition. 

Manish Sisodia is currently in judicial custody.

According to the CBI, Mr Sisodia played the most important and vital role in the criminal conspiracy, and he had been deeply involved in the formulation as well as the implementation of the policy to ensure the achievement of the objectives of the said conspiracy.

"We have dismissed the bail plea of Manish Sisodia," the court said on Monday.

The order was delivered by a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti.

However, the court directed the agency to complete the trial in the case in six to eight months. The court also remarked that if the trial in the case proceeds at a slow pace, Mr Sisodia can apply for bail again after three months.

The court, while refusing bail, also took note of the aspects of the transfer of a money trail of Rs 338 crore, which is tentatively established.

Manish Sisodia had moved the Supreme Court for bail in the CBI and ED cases related to alleged irregularities in the Delhi Excise Policy case. He had challenged the Delhi High Court order rejecting his bail plea. The Delhi High Court denied him bail in both matters.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)