The Supreme Court will hear Aam Admi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia’s bail pleas in connection with the alleged Delhi excise policy scam on Monday, July 29. Manish Sisodia has spent 16 months in custody after his arrest in February 2023. A bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan is slated to hear his bail pleas.

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Here are 10 key points about Manish Sisodia’s case:

1. In July 2022, a report was submitted to Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena by Delhi chief secretary Naresh Kuma, alleging that Manish Sisodia used kickbacks from liquor vending licensees to fund the AAP’s 2022 Punjab election campaign.

2. On February 26, 2023, Delhi’s deputy chief minister at the time – Manish Sisodia – was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in relation to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam, under sections related to criminal conspiracy (120B), intent to defraud (477A) and Section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

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3. The FIR filed against him, accused the AAP leader of being “instrumental in recommending and taking decisions pertaining to excise policy for the year 2021-22 without the approval of competent authority with an intention to extend undue favours to the licensee post tender”

Also Read: Delhi excise case: Judicial custody of Manish Sisodia, K Kavitha extended till July 31

4. Soon after his arrest by the CBI, Manish Sisodia was also arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 9 in a money laundering cause linked to the original allegation of using kickbacks received from the excise policy to fund the party’s 2022 Punjab election campaign.

5. Manish Sisodia, along with another AAP leader Satyendar Jain, who was also arrested on corruption charges, resigned from their posts from  the Arvind Kejriwal led Delhi government on February 28, 2023.

6. On October 30, 2023, Manish Sisodia was denied bail in both his bail pleas by the Supreme Court, due to ‘tentative evidence’ supporting the claims that wholesale liquor dealers had gained Rs. 338 crores under the excise policy. The court also said that Sisodia could apply for bail again in case trial was extended or change in evidence was discovered.

7. On April 30, 2024, Sisodia’s bail pleas were once again rejected by a trial court, which led him to file an appeal in the Delhi high court, which also dismissed his pleas on May 21. The Supreme Court also upheld the decision of the lower courts.

8. The former deputy chief minister of Delhi has been in judicial custody for 16 months. The ED had informed the apex court that the trial would last only six to eight months.

9. The Supreme Court had rejected, on June 4, 2024, Sisodia’s application to revive his bail pleas, saying that he needed to wait until the ED and the CBI file their prosecution complaint and chargesheet, respectively.

10. The chargesheet and prosecution complaint were supposed to be submitted before or by July 3. Since these documents were not filed, the apex court on July 16 agreed to hear Manish Sisodia’s bail pleas as well as responses from the ED and CBI.