No bail to Sisodia as severe PMLA sections invoked: AAP

NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has alleged that the Central government has imposed the most severe provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering (PMLA) Act on former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, which was the reason he did not get bail from the Supreme Court. The party claimed that in 2017, the top court had declared the provisions of PMLA as incorrect and unconstitutional. However, in 2019, the Modi government amended the Finance Act to revive the unconstitutional provisions of PMLA through the backdoor, it said.

The party said that examining 51,000 documents and 500 witnesses in the Sisodia case may take up to 10 years at the stage of the bail itself.“Despite there being no money trail, the stringent provisions of PMLA can keep him behind bars even without a conviction for 10 years. Therefore, the Supreme Court has ordered that this case should be concluded within 6 months while adjudicating his bail petition,” AAP’s spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar said on Thursday while addressing a press conference.

“The entire country has seen how the BJP has managed to exile individuals like Nitin Sandesara, Lalit Modi, Vijay Mallya, Mehul Choksi, and Nirav Modi from the country. But they have put Delhi’s former education minister Manish Sisodia, who brought an education revolution in the country, in jail,” she said.
Kakkar further added, “The Modi government sent Melania Trump to visit the government schools that Sisodia established. Before this, the Modi government had arrested Satyendar Jain, who improved healthcare services in government hospitals within Delhi. Several foreign dignitaries have praised mohalla clinics.”

“The BJP-led Central government has managed to exile Mehul Choksi and arrested AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, who was consistently raising his voice against the exploitation of street vendors. In addition, the CAG’s report exposed the scams of the Central government in front of the nation. Singh was jailed to suppress his voice. Since October 29, we have been witnessing BJP MP Manoj Tiwari continuously talking about a plan to arrest AAP’s national convener Arvind Kejriwal,” she said.

“A year ago, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra had claimed that Sisodia had destroyed 150 phones, spreading misinformation and defaming the AAP and its leader. However, until today, the ED has not provided any reasoning for the said act in court. During Thursday’s press conference, Patra repeatedly questioned why Sisodia wasn’t granted bail if he is innocent, but he didn’t inquire why Brij Bhushan Singh is out while Sisodia is inside,” she added.