The Supreme Court has refused to entertain the plea filed by Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia challenging his arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the excise policy case.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha heard the matter and asked the minister to seek alternative remedies. "Just because incident happened in Delhi, you cannot come here; you have your remedies," the court said.
Senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for Sisodia, questioned the need of arresting the AAP leader saying policy decisions were taken at different rung and moreover, no money was recovered. He also said that the Lieutenant Governor was also part of the policy decision in the excise policy.
"We are not inclined to entertain the petition under Article 32 at this stage," the bench said.
The CBI arrested Sisodia on Sunday after eight hours of questioning in connection with the alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi liquor policy for 2021-22. He has been sent to five-day CBI remand to allow the agency to get "genuine and legitimate" answers to questions being asked to him.
Special CBI judge M K Nagpal noted that though the accused had joined the investigation of this case on two earlier occasions, it has been observed that he has failed to provide satisfactory answers to most of the questions put to him during his examination and interrogation. Thus, he has failed to legitimately explain the incriminating evidence which has allegedly surfaced against him during the investigation conducted so far.
(With inputs from PTI)
