A Delhi court on Monday granted three days’ interim bail to former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia to attend his niece’s wedding, reported PTI.

Sisodia was arrested on February 26 last year by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with the Delhi government’s excise policy that came into effect in November 2021. On March 9, the Enforcement Directorate arrested him in the same case.

He had moved the court recently seeking bail for five days, stating that he had to perform certain rituals in the wedding, being the only male member of the family, according to The Indian Express.

The Central Bureau of Investigation opposed the bail plea, stating that Sisodia is highly influential and could tamper with evidence. The Enforcement Directorate said that one day of relief was enough to attend the wedding.

Hearing the case on Monday, special judge MK Nagpal granted Sisodia interim bail from February 13 to 15.

The judge also asked the former deputy chief minister if it was alright to send security personnel with him to the function. “I [Sisodia] do not want to humiliate my family with cops hovering around me,” he responded.

The case

The Enforcement Directorate’s case is based on a first information report registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation alleging irregularities in the Delhi government’s now-scrapped excise policy.

The Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate have alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party modified the liquor excise policy to ensure a 12% profit margin for wholesalers and a nearly 185% profit margin for retailers.

The Enforcement Directorate has also claimed that members of a so-called South Group had paid at least Rs 100 crore in kickbacks to leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party through businessman Vijay Nair.

Two senior Aam Aadmi Party leaders – Sisodia and Sanjay Singh – are currently in jail in connection with the case. Party chief Arvind Kejriwal has been summoned five times by the Enforcement Directorate.

The party and its leaders have denied the allegations.

In October, the Supreme Court had denied bail to Sisodia after noting that the authorities have tentatively established a money trail worth Rs 338 crores.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti ordered that the trial in the case be completed within six to eight months. “So within three months, if the trial proceeds sloppily or slowly, he will be entitled to file an application for bail,” the bench said.

In December, the top court dismissed Sisodia’s review petition.

Also read: A ‘liquor scam’ has put AAP leaders in jail. But has it dented the party’s image in Delhi?