'If bribery not part of predicate offence, it would be difficult to prove PMLA case against Sisodia'

The Supreme Court told the Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday if the bribe that was allegedly paid for tweaking the Delhi excise policy is not part of a predicate offence, then it will be difficult for the federal probe agency to prove the charge of money laundering against former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti, which reserved its verdict on two separate regular bail pleas of Sisodia in the corruption and money laundering cases, told the ED it cannot go by the assumption of bribe having been paid, and whatever protection an accused enjoys under law needs to be granted.

The remark by the bench came after senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Sisodia, said there was no allegation of bribe being part of the predicate offence under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case against the AAP leader.

“If there is no predicate offence, the ED cannot be there. Without a predicate offence of bribery forming part of the chargesheet (against Sisodia), the ED cannot be there,” he said.