Delhi excise 'scam': Court extends judicial custody of Manish Sisodia till Jan 10
New Delhi, Dec 11: A court here on Monday extended till January 10, 2024 the judicial custody of AAP leader Manish Sisodia in a money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.
Special Judge M K Nagpal also sought responses from Sisodia and other accused on an application filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seeking permission to file additional documents in the case.
The judge directed the accused persons to file their replies to the application by December 10.
The court also directed the ED to provide hard copies of the 540 pages of additional documents to the accused persons before the next hearing on January 10.
During the proceedings, the court also adjourned the hearing on an application moved by the ED seeking day-to-day hearing in the matter.
The judge noted that the case is currently at the stage of scrutiny of documents and that the trial will begin after this stage is over and charges are framed against the accused persons.
"The application shall be taken up at the relevant time," the judge said.
Sisodia was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on February 26 for his alleged role in corruption in the formulation and implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy 2020-21. The AAP leader has been in custody since then.
The ED arrested Sisodia in a money laundering case stemming from the CBI FIR on March 9 after questioning him in Tihar jail. Sisodia, who held the excise portfolio, resigned from the Delhi cabinet on February 28.
The Delhi government had implemented the excise policy on November 17, 2021 but scrapped it at the end of September 2022 amid allegations of corruption.
According to the investigating agencies, the profit margins of wholesalers were arbitrarily increased from 5 per cent to 12 per cent under the new policy.
The agencies have alleged that the new policy resulted in cartelisation and those ineligible for liquor licences were favoured for monetary benefits. However, the Delhi government and Sisodia have denied any wrongdoing and said the new policy would have led to an increase in revenue.
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Trump says EU has until July 4 to approve last year's trade deal or it will face higher tariffs
Washington (AP): President Donald Trump has said in a social media post that goods from the European Union would face higher tariff rates if the 27-member bloc fails to approve last year's trade framework by July 4.
The announcement on Thursday appeared to be a deadline extension after the president said last Friday that EU autos would face a higher 25 per cent tariff starting this week. Trump made the updated announcement after what he described as a "great call" with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Still, the US president was displeased that the European Parliament had yet to finalize the trade arrangement reached last year, which was further complicated in February by the US Supreme Court ruling that Trump lacked the legal authority to declare an economic emergency to impose the initial tariffs used to pressure the EU into talks.
"A promise was made that the EU would deliver their side of the Deal and, as per Agreement, cut their Tariffs to ZERO!" Trump posted. "I agreed to give her until our Country's 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels."
It was unclear from the post whether Trump was implying that the tariff rates would jump on all EU goods or the increase would only apply to autos.
His latest statement indicates he might be backing away from his earlier threat on EU autos by giving the European Parliament several more weeks to approve the agreement.
Under the original terms of the framework, the US would charge a 15 per cent tax on most goods imported from the EU.
But since the Supreme Court ruling, the administration has levied a 10 per cent tariff while investigating trade imbalances and national security issues, aiming to put in new tariffs to make up for lost revenues.
