"Can Put Me In Jail But Can't Break My Spirits": Sisodia After ED Gets Custody

Former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who is currently lodged in jail in connection with the excise policy scam case, on Saturday said that the Centre can put him behind bars but can’t break his spirits.

"Sir, you can trouble me by putting me in jail. But can't break my spirits. Even the British gave trouble to the freedom fighters, but their spirits did not break," the AAP leader said in a tweet in Hindi.

On Friday, Delhi's Rouse Avenue Courtsent the AAP leader to the Enforcement Directorate remand till March 17 in the case. The Court said that he is being remanded to custody for a period of 7 days till March 17 for the purposes of his "detailed and extensive interrogation and confrontations".

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), while seeking remand of Sisodia, said that the act of pro-active destruction of evidence leads to only one inference that Manish Sisodia made conscious efforts to destroy evidence of the offence of money laundering.

During the hearing, senior advocate Dayan Krishnan, appearing for Manish Sisodia, opposed the ED plea seeking Sisodia's 10-day custody.

The agency said that it is seeking 10-day custody to interrogate Sisodia to identify the modus operandi and to confront other persons who have been summoned.

The ED told the court that Sisodia had purchased SIM cards and mobile phones in other people's names.

There was a conspiracy behind framing the excise policy. The conspiracy was coordinated by Vijay Nair, along with others and the Excise policy was brought out for extraordinary profit margin for wholesalers, ED argued in the court.

ED told the court that the margin of 12 per cent of wholesale profit margin to private entities was never discussed in the GoM meeting.

Earlier, Sisodia was arrested on Thursday by ED in money laundering in connection with the excise policy case.

He was arrested during his judicial custody in Tihar Jail, where he was lodged.

Sisodia was arrested by the CBI in the liquor policy case on February 26 and was sent to 14-day judicial custody on March 6.

The ED also made another arrest in the case earlier, as it took Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Ramchandra Pillai into its custody.

The probe agency has also summoned Bharatiya Rashtriya Samiti (BRS) MLC and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao's daughter K Kavitha for questioning in the liquor policy case today.

Sisodia was arrested by the CBI earlier in its ongoing investigation of a case related to alleged irregularities in the framing and implementation of the excise policy of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD). Delhi's Rouse Avenue court sent him to judicial custody till March 20.

The excise policy was passed in Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi Cabinet in the middle of the deadly Delta Covid-19 pandemic in 2021.

The Delhi government's version is that the policy was formulated to ensure the generation of optimum revenue, eradicate the sale of spurious liquor or non-duty paid liquor in Delhi, besides improving user experience.

The CBI had filed a case against alleged corruption in the 2021-22 excise policy. The excise policy was subsequently withdrawn by the AAP government.

Sisodia was among 15 others booked in an FIR filed by the CBI. Excise officials, liquor company executives, dealers, some unknown public servants and private persons were booked in the case.

It was alleged that irregularities were committed including modifications in the Excise Policy and undue favours were extended to the license holders including waiver or reduction in licence fee, an extension of L-1 license without approval etc.

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