Manish Sisodia, the deputy chief minister of Delhi, was sent to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on remand on Monday. The Rouse Avenue Court ordered that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader’s interrogation during the remand period be conducted at a location with CCTV coverage in accordance with the rules established by the Supreme Court, and that the CBI preserve the said footage.
On Monday, Special Judge MK Nagpal made the decision to remand Manish Sisodia to the CBI until March 4. In connection with an ongoing inquiry into alleged irregularities in the formulation and application of the Delhi government’s excise policy, Sisodia was detained on Sunday. The accused is being remanded to CBI custody for a period of five days, or till March 4, the court stated, taking into consideration the facts and circumstances so that he can undergo additional and in-depth questioning.
The court noted that the accused had twice previously joined the investigation into this case, but it was also noted that most of the questions that were posed to him during his examination and interrogation were not satisfactorily answered by him. As a result, the accused was unable to adequately explain the allegedly incriminating evidence that had come to light during the investigation up to that point. He cannot be expected to make self-incriminating statements, it is true, but he must provide some reasonable responses to the investigation officer’s queries in order to uphold the interests of justice and a thorough investigation.
A proper and fair investigation requires that some genuine and legitimate answers to the questions being put to him about the same are to be found, and this, in the considered opinion of this court, can only be done during custodial interrogation of the accused, the court noted. A CBI lawyer argued before the court that the Delhi Deputy CM must be interrogated in a jail setting in order for the matter to be properly investigated. Sisodia’s five-day remand was sought, according to CBI, “Conspiracy was hatched in a very planned and secret manner.”
Meanwhile, eminent attorney Dayan Krishnan represented Sisodia and spoke up against the CBI’s request for remand. “If someone is not willing to say something, that cannot be grounds for arrest,” argued Manish Sisodia’s lawyer. What should I do with a phone that I changed? I am a minister, I cannot send it to a second-hand shop, it would have important data. The CBI confronted me with the material but I did not confess.
The Remand application says I gave evasive replies. This cannot be a ground for remand. They searched my residence on August 19. 2022. I hand over my phone. They called me to join the investigation and I joined. I cooperated,” Advocate Dayan Krishnan argued for Delhi Deputy CM. Manish Sisodia was arrested on Sunday, according to a statement from the CBI. They claimed he was giving evasive answers and refusing to cooperate with the probe into the liquor scam case.