Manish Sisodia was arrested in February.
New Delhi:
Making some strong observations while hearing the bail petition of former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in the liquor policy case, the Supreme Court has said that the chain of evidence has not been fully established. It also asked where the proof is against Mr Sisodia, except for the statement of businessman Dinesh Arora, who is an accused in the case himself.
Arora is an accused-turned-approver in the case, and was recently granted bail.
The bench, comprising Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice SVN Bhatti, said the agencies’ case is that money had been received by Manish Sisodia and asked how it reached him from the so-called liquor group.
“You have taken two figures, Rs 100 crore and Rs 30 crore. Who paid them this? There can be so many people paying the money – not necessarily connected to liquor. Where is the proof? Dinesh Arora himself is the recipient. Where is the evidence? Except for the statement of Dinesh Arora, is there any other evidence,” Justice Khanna asked.
“The chain has not been fully established,” the bench observed.
The court said that the money has to flow from the liquor lobby to the person and conceded that establishing the chain is difficult as everything was done under cover.
“But that’s where your competence comes in,” Justice Khanna said, referring to the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation.
