The Supreme Court on Monday denied bail to ex-Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in the liquor excise policy case, noting that a money trail of ₹ 338 crore had been “tentatively established” and that the “rule of law applies equally to all citizens and institutions, including the State”.

In refusing Mr Sisodia bail, the court accepted the CBI’s argument against the Aam Aadmi Party leader – that there is a “carefully hatched conspiracy… (to) assure unjust enrichment” of a select few, and that the policy “facilitated getting bribes” from wholesale distributors “assured exorbitant profits”

In a 41-page order the top court also noted the CBI’s claim that the now-withdrawn policy “favoured and promoted cartelisation”, pointing to the permit granted to Indo Spirit despite several such complaints.

However, the court also noted the claim a ₹ 2.2 crore bribe was paid to Mr Sisodia by Amit Arora, via businessman Dinesh Arora is “not a charge or allegation made in chargesheet filed by CBI”. The court said, “It may be difficult to regard alleged payment as a ‘proceed of crime’ (under PMLA).”

Mr Sisodia can apply for bail again after three months, a two-judge bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti said. Earlier the court had said Manish Sisodia could not be kept in jail indefinitely.

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