Excise policy scam: Delhi court defers order on Sisodia's bail plea in ED case
Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 26 Apr, 2023 11:51 AM
New Delhi, April 26 (IANS) A Delhi court on Wednesday deferred pronouncement of its order on AAP leader and former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia's bail plea in connection with the Delhi excise policy case being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Special judge M.K. Nagpal of the Rouse Avenue Court will now pronounce the order on April 28.
On April 18, he had reserved its decision on Sisodia's bail plea.
The court had, a day before, extended Sisodia's judicial custody by two weeks in the case.
The ED had earlier submitted before the judge that Sisodia had planted fabricated emails to show that there was public approval for the policy.
The directions to send these pre-drafted emails were given to Zakir Khan, Chairman of Delhi Minorities' Commission, who then asked his interns to send the emails, the ED claimed.
The probe agency had also said that the 60 days given to complete the investigation against Sisodia are not over yet.
It said that it has found fresh evidence indicating Sisodia's involvement in the alleged scam, and the investigation is at a crucial stage.
The gold biscuits were being smuggled from Manipur to the national capital via Guwahati. On Tuesday, 320 gm gold was seized by the railway police from the same railway station.
The police have arrested six persons in this connection, out of whom two are residents of Liluah in Howrah district, two are from Maharashtra and one from Gujarat. The police suspect that besides running the fake call centre, the arrested persons were also involved in illegal hawala transactions.
A forensic science lab team also reached the spot and inspected the suitcase and the spot where the body was found. The hands and the feet of the victim were tied with a rope, a police officer said, not ruling out the possibility of foul play in the case.
The officials said that some dreaded criminals were lodged in the same ward, adding that Sisodia has not raised any complaint in food or other things so far. Sisodia, who was arrested on February 26 in the Delhi excise policy case, was lodged in the cell on Monday after due formalities which included some medical tests.
Special public prosecutor (SPP) Amit Prasad argued the charges against Poonawala. It was submitted that the accused is a trained chef from Taj Hotel and is aware of preserving the flesh. Poonawala had also ordered dry ice, agarbatti etc. after killing Shraddha Walker, the police said.
Carrying placards, father Balkaur Singh and mother Charan Kaur told the media it has been almost a year of the crime occurrence and the main culprits have not been arrested.They demanded that the case should be investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as crucial witnesses "are being eliminated and nothing is going in their favour."
