Delhi liquor policy case: Manish Sisodia alleges 'mental harassment', court tells CBI not to repeat questions

A Delhi court on Saturday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to not ask the same questions again and again after former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia termed said he was facing “mental harassment”.

“They are not using third-degree. But sitting for eight to nine hours and answering the same questions again and again, that too is mental harassment," Sisodia said when he was produced before the court on the expiry of his earlier five-day custody. The court extended CBI custody of Sisodia by two days while asking the agency not to ask the “same questions again and again”. "If you have something new, ask him," Special judge M K Nagpal told the CBI.

The CBI had sought extension of the AAP leader’s custody to confront him with material witnesses. Sisodia has already been confronted with his former secretary C Arvind and then Excise commissioner Arava Gopi Krishna in connection with the Delhi Excise Policy case.

The CBI said that Sisodia was not cooperating and has been evasive. The agency also said that it may require further interrogation of the accused to trace out the missing file of the Cabinet note prepared in respect to the formulation of the now-scrapped 2021 Delhi excise policy

Sisodia’s counsel, senior advocate Dayan Krishnan, contested the arguments of CBI saying, "Non-cooperation or giving of evasive replies etc. By him cannot be a ground for remand. They cannot say we will wait till he confesses. They should have completed the investigation. Their failure to complete investigation can't be a ground for remand.”

Meanwhile, AAP supporters staged a protest outside the premises of Delhi Rouse Avenue Courts during the hearing amid heavy security presence in the area. 

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(Inputs from PTI)