The Enforcement Directorate said on Friday, July 7, that it has provisionally attached assets worth Rs 52.24 crore belonging to jailed AAP leader Manish Sisodia, his wife Seema Sisodia and others in the case of Delhi Liquor Policy linked money laundering case. The attachment included both movable and immovable properties. With this, the total attachment/seizure is Rs 128.78 crore in this case.
ED has provisionally attached movable and immovable assets worth Rs. 52.24 Crore belonging to Manish Sisodia, Amandeep Singh Dhall, Rajesh Joshi, Gautam Malhotra and others in the case of Delhi Liquor Scam. Total attachment in the case is now Rs. 128.78 Crore.
— ED (@dir_ed) July 7, 2023
According to reports, the seized immovable properties, worth Rs 7.29 crore, comprise two assets of former Delhi deputy chief minister Sisodia and his wife, land/flat of another accused Rajesh Joshi (director of Chariot Productions Media Pvt Ltd.) and land/flat of Gautam Malhotra.
The movable assets, worth Rs 44.29 crore including bank balances of Sisodia worth Rs 11.49 lakh, Brindco Sales Pvt. Ltd. (amount of Rs 16.45 crore), and others, the agency said in a statement.
The development comes a day after Manish Sisodia filed a petition with the Supreme Court in an effort to overturn a decision by the Delhi High Court that had refused him bail. Sisodia is facing charges framed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) related to Delhi’s new excise policy.
Sisodia had earlier sought bail from court citing his wife’s ill health and his son being abroad. Earlier, Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court ordered the Delhi police to physically produce him on the upcoming hearing date in connection with the case.
Sisodia is accused in cases that concern irregularities in the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy. He was arrested on 26 February on allegations of corruption in connection with the formulation and implementation of Delhi’s 2021–22 excise policy.
On 12 April, the ED opposed his bail and informed the Delhi Court that the AAP stalwart was responsible for manufacturing emails indicating widespread support for the policy.
The federal investigating agency disclosed that Sisodia altered the excise policy in response to the desires of the “South Group” in exchange for an upfront advance kickback of Rs 100 crore in its remand notice, which was placed before the court on March 10.
The money was allegedly handed over to Vijay Nair, the communicator in charge of the Aam Aadmi Party, at a South Delhi hotel by representatives of the latter. According to the Enforcement Department, he took home Rs 2.2 crores through the scandal.
