Excise policy case: Delhi court takes cognisance of ED's supplementary charge sheet against Sisodia
Darpan News Desk IANS, 30 May, 2023 10:19 AM
New Delhi, May 30 (IANS) A Delhi court on Tuesday took cognisance of the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) supplementary charge sheet against former Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia, in connection with the excise policy case.
Special judge M.K. Nagpal of the Rouse Avenue Court took cognisance after having reserved the order on May 19.
The court then issued summons to Sisodia for June 1. The same court had on May 23 extended the Aam Aadmi Party leader's judicial custody for the same date in the ED case.
On May 27, after taking cognisance of the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) supplementary charge sheet, the court had issued summons to Sisodia and three others for June 2. On May 12, Sisodia's judicial custody was also extended for the same date in the CBI case.
The ED had arrested Sisodia on March 9, after the CBI arrested him on February 26 this year.
Special public prosecutor Naveen Kumar Matta filed the charge sheet, which runs into over 2,100 pages.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Delhi High Court dismissed Sisodia's bail plea in the excise policy case being probed by the CBI.
Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma pronounced the order on his bail plea after having reserved it on May 11. The judge said that the nature of the allegations is quite serious that the excise policy was formed at the instance of the South Group with mala fide intentions to give undue advantages to them.
While denying Sisodia bail, the judge also said that Sisodia being an influential person can influence the witnesses, who are also public servants.
Sisodia had challenged special judge M.K. Nagpal's order denying him bail on March 31.
Antram a.k.a Anta Antram, 61, had allegedly kidnapped and killed Harendra Singh-- the younger brother of lawyer Raghvendra Singh--with the help of his friend in 1982. The boy was murdered after the family failed to pay a ransom of Rs 5 lakh. The body was found seven days later, with the throat split open.
On July 22, 2022, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) directed the CBI to initiate a case in the excise scam. Sources claim that from that day onwards, Sisodia started using a new mobile phone. While probing the matter, the CBI learnt that Sisodia had been using three different mobile phones between January 1, 2020 and August 19, 2022.
A spokesperson for the police said, a police team was deployed at the bus stand in Badhra. On learning that four people with illegal weapons were roaming in a car, the police raided the location and arrested them. The accused have been identified as Ankit, Ajay, Ashuraj and Ravindra.
The alleged manhandling of the woman has sparked statewide protests by the farmers against the acquisition of land for the Bharatmala project. Hundreds of activists of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC) squatted on railway tracks at several towns and blocked rail traffic over inadequate compensation for the land acquired for the project.
The Customs officials at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai on Thursday seized 4.2 kg gold valued at Rs 2.28 crore, and detained a man in this connection. A senior Customs officer said that the accused arrived at Mumbai Airport from Muscat.
The incident was reported on Tuesday morning. During the search operation, two big packets, weighing 15.5 kg and suspected to contain heroin, were recovered near Kakkar.
