Court requests ED’s response to Manish Sisodia’s cash withdrawal request.

NEW DELHI:

Manish Sisodia, a former deputy chief minister of Delhi, filed a request with a Delhi court on Monday asking for permission to withdraw some money from a bank account that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had seized in connection with the excise policy scam case. The court requested the ED’s response.

In his appeal, the Aam Aadmi Party leader stated that his wife’s medical bills and other home expenses required the money.

Sisodia’s attorney, Mohd Irshad, said that the bank was refusing to let him withdraw the money.

At Rouse Avenue Court in the city, Special Judge M K Nagpal gave notice of the case and set the hearing date for August 4.

The AAP lawmaker said that a copy of his savings account statement was necessary for filing his income tax return, the deadline for which is July 31. In the meanwhile, the court approved his request.

It was claimed that Sisodia has not yet received the notice of attachment to his bank account, but the investigating officer stated that the bank account, along with some other assets of the accused, are provisionally attached in accordance with Section 5 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) regulations.

The IO did not object, though, when a copy of his bank account statement was requested.

The court ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to provide the papers to the other accused parties in the case that was registered against Sisodia in relation to the liquor policy case. It was previously given to him, co-accused Amandeep Singh Dhall, co-accused Arjun Pandey (who was not arrested in this case), and co-accused Butchibabu Gorantla (who has been granted bail).

However, their solicitors requested some time to carefully review the records before submitting that they would prepare requests for the provision of incomplete copies of the chargesheet and other records by the subsequent date if necessary.