Jailed Manish Sisodia sent to 7-day ED custody over Delhi excise policy case

Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia has been sent to the Delhi Enforcement Directorate's custody for seven days in the liquor case. The central agency had demanded at least 10 days to question Delhi's deputy chief minister over alleged money laundering in the making of the liquor policy, which was later scrapped.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested him yesterday. He was earlier arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for alleged corruption in shaping Delhi's liquor policy. His bail plea in the CBI case was supposed to be heard in a special court today, but it was moved to March 21.

Explaining why it needs Mr. Sisodia's custody, the ED today told a special court that it wants to track where the money trail leads in the Delhi liquor policy case. The ED said the proceeds of the crime are worth at least ₹292 crore. "We have called the police. We want to confront them with Sisodia in custody," the ED lawyer said.

Mr. Sisodia's lawyer criticized the ED for treating the arrest as a right without going through due process. "It has become fashionable these days for agencies to treat arrest as a right. It is time the courts cracked down on this sense of entitlement," Sisodia's lawyer Dayan Krishna said in a special court today.