During the hearing today, Sisodia’s counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi maintained that there was no evidence against Sisodia.
“There is no statement about Manish Sisodia or WhatsApp chat with him. No evidence about hawala operators with him, no evidence of WhatsApp chat with Sisodia at all,” he said.
He also highlighted that Sisodia has already undergone nearly half of the prison sentence which he would be subject to in case he is found guilty.
“Sisodia has already undergone half of the minimum sentence here and there is no end to this period of incarceration. I am not seeking default bail. This case is not about commencement of trial but conclusion of trial. Earlier a date was given when it will commence and that period has also lapsed,” Singhvi argued.
He also rebutted ED’s contention that the applications by Sisodia were delay tactics.
“All applications (filed by Sisodia) were allowed (by trial court), and not challenged and there is no delay. The test is whether the accused has sabotaged the trial and not whether (he filed) applications filed one after another,” Singhvi said.
ASG Raju maintained that the delay was due to Sisodia.
“Instead of proceeding with trial, they gave applications after application citing that unrelied documents were being taken into consideration,” he contended.
He also said that if let out, Sisodia could tamper with evidence and influence witnesses.
“There are some important witnesses who can be examined and may be tampered. These witnesses could be influenced and there is a likelihood for the same,” he said
Source: Barandbench
