Delhi liquor policy case: Court allows Manish Sisodia to meet his ailing wife once a week

Former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who remains in jail for over a year in the liquor policy case, has been allowed to meet his ailing wife and doctors once a week.   The AAP leader received the respite on Monday from Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi. It was during Diwali in November that he was last allowed jail release to see his ill wife.

The former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister has asked the court to grant him custodial release so he may see his wife once a week. On February 2, the Enforcement Directorate received a notification from Special Judge MK Nagpal of Rouse Avenue Court regarding the application.

While issuing notice, the court noted that the first application is for seeking his regular bail (second bail application), and the second is for seeking custody parole to meet his ailing wife for two days weekly.

The former deputy chief minister faced accusations of engaging in extra-legal meddling during the formulation of the now-cancelled new excise policy, modifying it to favour some spirits companies, and costing the state exchequer several hundred crores.

Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar reported "deviations" from established processes in the tax policy's preparation to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and L-G V K Saxena in July 2022. He brought attention to Manish Sisodia's seeming reversal of his previous position on dry days. The report claims that extending the licencing duration without raising the charge resulted in licensees receiving "undue benefit" without "any justification."

Manish Sisodia was first arrested by the CBI in February last year and by the ED in March. In the ED chargesheet, Manish Sisodia was named a “key conspirator” in the case.