New Delhi: On Friday, a Delhi court issued a directive to both the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) regarding AAP leader Manish Sisodia’s appeal for provisional bail in cases concerning excise matters, aiming to partake in electoral campaigning.

Presiding over the matter, Special Judge Kaveri Baweja, managing cases pertaining to the CBI and ED, instructed the investigative bodies to submit their responses by April 20, when the court is scheduled to deliberate on the application.

The CBI and ED assert that the Delhi excise policy was subject to manipulations, leading to unwarranted advantages for licensees. These transgressions involved reduced or waived license fees and unauthorized extensions of licenses, bypassing proper sanctioning authorities.

Allegedly, those who benefited redirected illicit proceeds to implicated officials and fabricated their accounting records to conceal these actions, the investigative agencies contend.

Sisodia’s apprehension by the Central Bureau of Investigation on February 26, 2023, stemmed from his purported involvement in the “scandal.” Subsequent to the CBI FIR, the Enforcement Directorate detained Sisodia on March 9, 2023, for charges related to money laundering. Sisodia resigned from his role in the Delhi cabinet on February 28, 2023.