Delhi court extends Manish Sisodia's ED custody by 5 days in excise case

A court here on Friday extended by five days the Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody of AAP leader Manish Sisodia who has been arrested in a money laundering case related to the Delhi excise policy.

Sisodia was produced before special judge M K Nagpal, who extended his custody till March 22. The ED had sought a seven-day extension of Sisodia's custody.

Heavy security deployment was made inside and outside the Rouse Avenue Court premises.

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The Enforcement Directorate told the court that crucial information had come up during Sisodia's custody and he had to be confronted with other accused persons. These included former excise commissioner Rahul Singh, Dinesh Arora and Amit Arora.

The former Delhi deputy chief minister had also to be confronted with his former secretary C Arvind, the ED said. C Arvind is not an accused in the case.

The probe agency also told the court that voluminous data from Sisodia's email and mobile and other devices is also being forensically analysed.

Opposing the ED's plea, Sisodia's lawyer said there is not a whisper from the agency regarding the proceeds of the crime, which is fundamental to the case. There is no justification for the extension of custody and Sisodia was confronted only with four people during his earlier seven-day custody, he said.

The ED arrested Sisodia on March 9 in the Tihar jail, where he was lodged in connection with a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case about alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy for 2021-22. The CBI arrested Sisodia on February 26.