Manish Sisodia: A Political Prisoner for 17 months and his Fight against Vendetta Politics

Updated: 8/15/2024

Last updated: 10 Aug 2024

Jailed for 17 months without any conviction since 26 Feb 2023^[1]

Sisodia got bail on 9 Aug 2024 with Supreme Court terming his long incarnation without trial as "Travesty Of Justice"^[1:1]

"Sahib,
You can trouble me by putting me in jail but can't break my spirits.
The British also gave trouble to the freedom fighters but their spirits did not break"

Manish Sisodia(India's Best Education Minister)'s message from Tihar Jail^[2]

"Someone has rightly said that the essence of tyranny is the ability to make a harsh law and use it selectively against your opponents" - Sanjay R Hegde Senior advocate at the Supreme Court of India^[3]

¶ Delhi Excise Policy & Alleged 'Scam'

First scam in India where Govt revenue increased 😊
-- Refer Delhi assembly official records for details

¶ Zero Recovery in Raids

Any Cash/Jewellary/Properties Recovered? ZERO

19 Aug 2022: CBI raided his residence for 14 hours. Even after that, they did not find any unaccounted money^[4]
30 Aug 2022: CBI searched his Bank locker but found nothing. Only Jewellery amounting to Rs 70,000 to Rs 80,000 belonging to his wife was found^[4:1]

Did he acquire properties? NO

Dainik Bhaskar ground report from Manish Sisodia's village

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_5b_BcEsbc

Fighting with a smile to Keep Aam Aadmi movement alive

¶ Why he was Jailed? and Food for thought

SC ground for dismissing Sisodia's plea: 'Excess profit' earned by wholesalers^[5]^[6]

SupremeCourt Judgement^[7]^[8]

-- SC refuses to accept ED's allegation that Rs 2.20 crore was paid as bribe to Manish Sisodia by Amit Arora
-- "Prima facie, there is lack of clarity, as specific allegation on the involvement of the appellant – Manish Sisodia, direct or indirect, in the transfer of Rs. 45,00,00,000 to AAP for the Goa elections is missing."- Para 15

Supreme Court says that the allegations of CBI/ED, that certain liquor wholesale distributors made profits of Rs 338 crores. And that the new excise policy was meant to give windfall gains to a select few distributors who agreed to give bribes, were tentatively established

Point to ponder^[9]:

If private entities profiting from a change in policy is a crime for which Manish Sisodia can be denied bail (without establishing that any bribe was received, mind you)

Then Should Dr Manmohan Singh should get the death sentence for liberalizing the Indian economy in 1991 and creating windfall gains for thousands of private companies?!

¶ Legal Experts on SC bail judgement

Courts seem to have forgotten basic principle of grant or refusal of bail, says former Supreme Court judge Madan Lokur^[10]

"The Bizarre Logic In Supreme Court’s Judgment Denying Bail To Manish Sisodia"- Manu Sebastian (Managing Editor, LIVE Law)^[11]

"Though the Court exposed certain fallacies in the ED and the CBI cases , it refrained from taking the judgment to the logical conclusion" - Manu Sebastian (Managing Editor, LIVE Law)^[11:1]
"Sisodia’s case is that of a bad law, being made harder by a harsher interpretation of harsh legislation" - Sanjay R Hegde Senior advocate at the Supreme Court of India^[3:1]

¶ Critically ill wife amid Manish ji's jail & son abroad for studies^[12]

Manish ji's wife suffering from Multiple Sclerosis (MS) - a chronic autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system
Disease accelerates with time and stress
She was admitted to hospital again on 04 July which was 3rd time in recent past
According to the doctors attending Sisodia's wife, her symptoms were worsening and her condition was critical

Manish Sisodia and his family are paying a hefty price for entering politics, especially considering the effect of their good work for Delhi's children

"While I am certain that Sisodia and other AAP leaders have the fortitude to fight the major struggle, I am concerned that such outcomes would discourage our country's young from entering politics"- Abhinandita Dayal Mathur, AAP leader^[13]

¶ Constituency Work from Jail

_ Aug 8, 2024_: Installing 50 water coolers in the Patparganj area, funded by his MLA funds. He obtained court permission^[14]

July 7, 2024: Permission grante by court to release Rs 3 crore from the MLA fund for development works in Khichripur village, East Vinod Nagar, Resettlement Colony Khichripur, Railway Colony and Mandawali etc^[15]

Aug 23, 2023: Delhi court on Tuesday granted permission to former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia to release money from his MLA fund for development work in his constituency, Patparganj^[16]

20 Oct 2023: After the court’s nod, multiple identified work were approved from MLA funds & letters were sent to the departments concerned^[17]

¶ Timeline: Excise policy CBI/ED case

21 July 2022: CBI probe ordered by LG^[18]
19 Aug 2022: CBI FIR registered naming Manish Sisodia^[19]
20 Aug 2022: CBI raids Manish Sisodia house, finds NOTHING^[20]
27 Sept 2022: AAP communications in-charge Vijay Nair arrested before Gujarat elections ^[21]
25 November 2022: First chargesheet filed but Manish Sisodia not named^[22]
14 Jan 2023: CBI raids Manish Sisodia office^[22:1]
26 Feb 2023: CBI arrests Manish Sisodia^[23]
9 Mar 2023: ED arrests Manish Sisodia a day before CBI case bail hearing^[23:1]
30 May 2023: The high court reject Sisodia's bail plea^[24]
14 July 2023: SC issues notice to CBI & ED on bail plea^[25]
04 Aug 2023: Hearing adjourned to Sept 2023 but SC remarked "We need a clear picture of how the money trail is established. From a reading of your affidavit, it does not become clear.”^[26]
15 Sept 2023: Hearing defered to 4th Oct 2023^[27]
04 Oct 2023: Manish Sisodia side of arguments competed. Hearing to continue on 5th October
05 Oct 2023: ED continuing arguments. Hearing to continue on 11th October
17 October 2023: Supreme Court reserves bail pleas of Manish Sisodia for verdict
30 October 2023: Supreme Court bench led by Sanjiv Khanna rejects Manish Sisodia’s bail plea in Delhi excise policy case
13 December 2023: Supreme Court bench led by Sanjiv Khanna dismissed the review petition too^[28]
April 30, 2024: Trial court again refuses to grant bail to Sisodia
21 May 2024: HC denies bail to Sisodia
9 Aug 2024: SC grants bail to Sisodia

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