On Thursday, the ‘AAP’ cleared the Air why Shri Manish Sisodia has not been granted bail by the Supreme Court. AAP’s chief spokesperson, Ms. Priyanka Kakkar, explained that the Modi government has imposed the most severe provision of PMLA on former Deputy CM Shri Manish Sisodia. That’s why he hasn’t received bail from the Supreme Court. This provision dictates that the accused of money laundering must convince the court and prove that all the allegations against them are incorrect. The court must also satisfy itself of the innocence of the accused at the stage of the bail itself which in effect means examining all the witnesses and documents before a bail can be granted. In 2017, the Supreme Court 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.
Examining 51000 documents and 500 witnesses in Manish Sisodia case may take upto 10 years at the stage of the bail itself. Despite there been no money trail, the stringent provisions of PMLA therefore 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 canceling Shri Manish Sisodia’s bail.
AAP’s Chief Spokesperson spokesperson, Ms. Priyanka Kakkar stated, “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 Shri Manish Sisodia, who brought an education revolution in the country to jail. The Modi government sent Melania Trump to visit the government schools that Shri Manish Sisodia established. Prior to this, the Modi government had arrested Shri Satyendar Jain, who improved the healthcare services in government hospitals within Delhi. Several foreign dignitaries have praised Delhi’s Mohalla Clinics. The BJP-led central government has managed to exile Mehul Choksi and arrested AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Shri 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. Shri Sanjay 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 and Delhi’s CM Shri Arvind Kejriwal.
She continued, A year ago, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra had claimed that Shri Manish Sisodia had destroyed 150 phones, spreading misinformation and defaming the AAP and Shri Manish Sisodia. However, until today, the ED has not provided any reasoning for phone destruction in court. During today’s press conference, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra repeatedly questioned why Shri Manish Sisodia wasn’t granted bail if he is innocent, but he didn’t inquire why Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh is out while Manish Sisodia is inside.
Ms. Priyanka Kakkar referred to the Supreme Court’s orders and said that Paragraph 10 of the order clearly states that the allegation of Shri Manish Sisodia receiving money from the approver could not be proved. Paragraph 12 mentions that with respect to the kickback of ₹100 crores, such allegation is made against Shri Manish Sisodia. It is also mentioned that no charges have been framed in this regard. The reason for Shri Manish Sisodia not being granted bail is referring to the 2017 Supreme Court judgment, which requires the accuser to prove the charges of money laundering if they allege it. In our country, the law dictates that prosecutors have to prove guilt, but under the provisions of the PMLA, the accused must prove their innocence during the bail period to satisfy the judge that no crime has occurred.
Ms. Priyanka Kakkar further stated that the BJP has provided 51,000 documents and the names of 500 witnesses in this case. Handling the legal technicalities of such a large number of documents and witnesses could take 10-15 years. The court is also burdened with this case. Therefore, the court had to say that this case wouldn’t be suitable for a trial court, not even for two minutes. The court mentioned that a decision in this case would be made within 6 months. In 2017, the Supreme Court declared certain provisions of the PMLA as incorrect and unconstitutional and halted their implementation. However, in 2019, the BJP, through a backdoor entry, amended the Finance Act to revive the unconstitutional provisions of the PMLA. Whether the BJP can do this is currently pending before a 7-judge bench of the Supreme Court. Shri Manish Sisodia has been accused under the provisions of the PMLA in 2017, which have been declared unconstitutional once. Therefore, the Supreme Court has told the ED that the ED can’t take 10-15 years but decide within six months. Moreover, getting bail in PMLA cases is quite challenging. That’s why such stringent provisions have been applied in our case. It’s worth noting that even a single penny has not been recovered.
The AAP senior concluded, “₹8 crores were found in Karnataka, but there was no investigation there. We haven’t recovered even a single penny here, yet we are in jail because such provisions have been applied. We want to tell the BJP that we are ordinary people. The BJP is a very powerful party. In other parties, people are afraid even with a single FIR, but AAP members are not afraid. We are ready to make the ultimate sacrifice for the country. We will continue to follow Shri Arvind Kejriwal’s vision and make India the number one country in the world.”
