The Evening Wrap: Rahul Gandhi disqualified as member of Lok Sabha

Congress leader and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi has been disqualified from Lok Sabha, a day after a Surat court sentenced him in a criminal defamation case. A notification from the lower House, signed by Secretary General Utpal Kumar Singh said, Gandhi stands disqualified from the membership of Lok Sabha from the date of his conviction, as per the terms of Article 102 (1)(e) of the Constitution and Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. Gandhi was sentenced to two years imprisonment for his “why all thieves have Modi surname” comment he allegedly made during the parliamentary election campaign in 2019. The court suspended the sentence for 30 days, so that Gandhi can appeal in a higher court. The court has given bail to him on ₹10,000 bond. According to the Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People (RP) Act, 1951, which guides the disqualification of a legislator, the moment a Member of Parliament is convicted of any offence and sentenced for at least two years, she or he attracts disqualification. Experts though have differing views on whether the conviction and sentencing means immediate disqualification or the Wayanad MP gets time if he appeals. Gandhi is the second MP to be disqualified in the recent times. Reacting to Gandhi’s disqualification, Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor said he was stunned by the rapid action. “I’m stunned by this action and by its rapidity, within 24 hours of the court verdict and while an appeal was known to be in process. This is politics with the gloves off and it bodes ill for our democracy,” he tweeted. Reacting to his disqualification, Gandhi on Friday said he was fighting to restore the country’s voice and will pay any price to do so. “I am fighting for the voice of India and am ready to pay any price (for it),” Gandhi tweeted in Hindi. His tweet followed his disqualification as a Lok Sabha MP earlier on Friday. The Congress on Friday came down heavily on the Centre over Gandhi’s disqualification as a Lok Sabha member, calling it a “strangulation of democracy” while exuding confidence that the disqualification will be revoked through a stay on his conviction by a higher court. The party alleged that Gandhi’s disqualification is part of a “pattern” to stop him from speaking out against the Central government and also an attempt to divert public attention from real issues. Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters in the national capital, Congress national spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi and senior leader Jairam Ramesh lashed out at the Centre over the disqualification of the former national party president. “The issue before us is political, more than it is legal. It is a political issue because it signifies the systematic, repetitive emasculation of democratic institutions by the ruling party. It signifies the strangulation of democracy itself. We know that defamation is an exception to free speech, but over the last several years, we have had repeated examples of unthinkable assaults on freedom of speech, more importantly, freedom after speech. We all know that Rahul Gandhi has been speaking fearlessly inside and outside Parliament. He is paying a price for it,” Singhvi said. He said that the government was resorting to new methods to “throttle” Rahul Gandhi’s voice. “This government is rattled because he clearly speaks with facts and figures on demonetisation. Be it the supposed clean chit to China, or the GST, he is consistently aggressive and open in his questioning. Therefore this government is finding new techniques of throttling his voice,” Singhvi alleged. On the criticism by the BJP following Rahul Gandhi’s remarks on Indian democracy in the U.K. recently, Singhvi said the Congress leader is not entitled to speak freely on grounds of “fake and imaginary nationalism”. Rahul Gandhi goes abroad, he is not entitled to speak freely on grounds of fake nationalism, created imaginary nationalism. He comes back and his speeches abroad become the basis of action against him inside Parliament. All of this is part of a pattern to stop him (from speaking out against this government), to divert public attention from the real and burning issues before the nation today. It is also intended to create a fear psychosis among those who dare to question this government,” he said. Singhvi said Gandhi will emerge victorious in the higher court in the defamation case. “We are confident that we will get a stay on his conviction, which will, in turn, remove the very basis of this disqualification. We have full faith in the law. We believe we will emerge victorious in the near future,” he said. Rahul Gandhi may have to vacate bungalow unless he gets relief from higher court: official Following his disqualification as an MP, Rahul Gandhi may have to vacate his official bungalow in Lutyens’ Delhi within a month if he does not get relief from a higher court in the criminal defamation case, an official said on March 24. Gandhi was allotted the 12, Tughlaq Lane bungalow after his election as a Lok Sabha MP in 2004. On Friday, the Lok Sabha Secretariat disqualified him as an MP, effective March 23, after he was convicted by a Surat court in an 2019 criminal defamation case and sentenced him to two years in jail. Giving immediate bail, the court allowed the former Congress president 30 days to appeal in a higher court. “As he has been disqualified from Lok Sabha, he is not entitled to a government accommodation. According to rules, he will have to vacate his official bungalow within a month since the date of disqualification order,” an official of the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry said. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had to vacate her official Lodhi Estate bungalow in July 2020 as she was no longer eligible for it after her security cover had been downgraded. The Congress party has said it would fight the conviction and disqualification of Rahul Gandhi politically and legally. Following his disqualification, Rahul Gandhi would not be able to contest elections for eight years unless a higher court stays his conviction and sentence. Opposition holds protest march alleging ‘democracy in danger’, seeks JPC probe into Adani issue Several opposition parties on Friday held a protest march from Parliament, alleging that “democracy is in danger” and demanding a JPC probe into the Adani issue. Addressing the media at Vijay Chowk, several leaders, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, also raised the issue of Rahul Gandhi’s conviction in a 2019 criminal defamation case by a Surat court and alleged that the government was targeting the opposition with cases to suppress their voices. After a protest inside the Parliament House complex, a host of Opposition leaders from parties such as the CPI, CPI(M), Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray), JD(U) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), marched to Vijay Chowk, holding placards like ‘We demand JPC’ and ‘Save LIC’ and a huge banner in front of them with ‘Democracy in Danger’ written on it. “We’re fighting for JPC into Adani issue for months. They have a majority but the BJP is scared as there’s something fishy. We’ll keep fighting unitedly for it,” Kharge said. He also hit out at BJP chief J.P. Nadda over his allegation on Rahul Gandhi comparing OBC communities to thieves and accused the BJP of indulging in “caste politics”. AAP’s Sanjay Singh said Gandhi’s conviction shows that the government wants to finish off the opposition by slapping cases on them. Lok Sabha Secretariat quick to disqualify, slow to reinstate: NCP’s Mohammed Faizal on Rahul Gandhi’s debarment Waiting to be reinstated as a Member of Parliament after his disqualification following conviction in a criminal case, NCP leader Mohammed Faizal on March 24 said the Lok Sabha Secretariat was very quick to disqualify, as in his and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s case, but very slow to reinstate. Faizal stood disqualified from membership of the Lok Sabha from January 11, the date of his conviction by a sessions court in Kavaratti, according to a notification issued on January 13 by the Lok Sabha Secretariat. Later, the Kerala High Court on January 25 suspended Faizal’s conviction, saying that not doing so would result in fresh elections for his vacant seat which would impose an immense financial burden on the government and the public. However, despite the Kerala HC order and a subsequent Law Ministry recommendation that he be reinstated, the LS Secretariat is yet to issue an order reinstating him, Faizal said. The former MP is yet to be allowed inside the Lok Sabha despite his conviction being suspended by the Kerala High Court. “The Lok Sabha Secretariat without a hitch is quick to disqualify. But they take their own time where reinstatement is concerned, even when the legal position is clear. Look at how quick they were to disqualify Rahul Gandhi. His conviction and sentencing were barely 24 hours ago,” he told PTI. Faizal said Gandhi would now have to move the High Court in Gujarat to suspend his conviction and if no relief was available from there, then move the Supreme Court. “He (Gandhi) will have to walk the same route as me,” the NCP leader said, adding that he himself was gearing up to move the apex court against the inordinate and inexplicable delay by the LS Secretariat in reinstating him. “They have been sitting on the file for nearly two months now without a reason. Whenever I make enquiries, they say they will do it shortly. I cannot keep waiting like this. I already lost one session. I have no option but to move the court,” he said. The Supreme Court in a 2013 verdict said that any MP or MLA stands disqualified from the time of his conviction if a sentence of two or more years is pronounced. Supreme Court protects members of Christian community from coercive action under anti-conversion law by UP Police The Supreme Court on March 24, 2023 protected members of the Christian community from coercive action by the Uttar Pradesh Police on the basis of an FIR registered under the State’s anti-religious conversion law. A Bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud issued notice to the State of Uttar Pradesh after senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for the petitioners, said the FIR was a “cock-and-bull story” of “mass conversion”. He said the police action amounted to the “abuse of the process of law”. “I want to share something with Your Lordships… If I may be permitted… What is happening? Things are going completely out of control… Your Lordships are the only forum before which we have come. We are not protected by the police or the Magistrates. You alone can save us… They are saying forcible conversions… Children were arrested and released only at midnight,” Dave made an emotional appeal on behalf of the petitioners led by Dr. Mathew Samuel. He said the police have filed multiple FIRs against the same persons in the same incident, violating their fundamental right under Article 20(2) of the Constitution, which mandates that “no individual shall be prosecuted and punished for the same offence more than once”. “Mr. Dave, we are here. Therefore we have issued notice and stayed any coercive action pending further orders,” Chief Justice Chandrachud reassured. The petition challenges a February 17, 2023 decision of the Allahabad High Court refusing to quash the FIR registered under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021 at Fatehpur in the State. The petitioners said the incident which began the train of events occurred on February 14 last year when the members of the Evangelical Church of India, including the petitioners, were gathered in a church to pray and worship together on the occasion of Maundy Thursday. According to them, a mob barged into the church premises, began communal sloganeering, illegally locked the door of the Church with the congregants inside and called the police. The police, according to the petitioners, instead of assisting the church members, “dragged” them to the station and registered an FIR under State anti-religious law and several sections of the Indian Penal Code. The informant/complainant had identified himself as Joint Secretary, Vishwa Hindu Parishad in the FIR itself, the petition alleged. On January 23 this year, a second FIR was lodged by another person at the same police station with respect to the same incident. The informant in the first FIR was a witness in the second FIR. The petition alleged that the second FIR was lodged to tide over a flaw that only an aggrieved person could file a complaint under the 2021 law. “The purported incompetence of the informant to register an FIR under Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021 cannot be remedied by registration of a second FIR, especially when the second FIR has arisen out of the same incident,” the petition argued. It contended that the High Court’s finding that the first FIR “is of no consequence” was absurd, especially when the probe was on and several petitioners had already secured regular or anticipatory bail. Dave said 37 members of the congregation were forced to “run” after the registration of the second FIR. The court listed the case for hearing after four weeks. Government to introduce GPS-based toll system in six months to replace toll plazas The government will introduce new technologies including GPS-based toll collection systems in the next 6 months to replace existing highway toll plazas in the country, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on March 24, 2023. The move is aimed at reducing traffic congestion and charging motorists for the exact distance travelled on the highways, Gadkari said. Addressing an event organised by industry body CII, Gadkari further said state-owned NHAI’s toll revenue is currently ₹40,000 crore and it is going to soar to ₹ 1.40 lakh crore in 2-3 years. “The government is looking at new technologies including GPS-based toll systems to replace toll plazas in the country...We will bring new technology in six months,” he said. The ministry of road transport and highways is conducting a pilot project of automatic number plate recognition system (automatic number plate reader cameras) to enable automated toll collection without stopping the vehicles. During 2018-19, the average waiting time for vehicles at toll plaza was 8 minutes. With the introduction of FASTags during 2020-21 and 2021-22, the average waiting time of the vehicles has come down to 47 seconds. Although there is considerable improvement in waiting time at certain locations, especially near cities, in the densely populated towns there are still some delays at toll plazas during peak hours. In Brief: Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court will pronounce an order on former deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia’s bail plea in the now scrapped excise policy case lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on March 31. Sisodia is currently in judicial custody in the cases registered by the CBI and ED, till April 3. Special Judge M.K. Nagpal on March 24, 2023 said that the court will pronounce the order on Sisodia’s bail at 4 pm on March 31. The bail plea was filed in the case lodged by CBI. Sisodia’s bail plea in the money laundering case will be heard by this court on March 25, 2023. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 24 March 2023 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( Rahul Gandhi disqualified as member of Lok Sabha Congress leader and Wayanad MP [Rahul Gandhi has been disqualified from Lok Sabha]( a day after a Surat court sentenced him in a criminal defamation case. A notification from the lower House, signed by Secretary General Utpal Kumar Singh said, Gandhi stands disqualified from the membership of Lok Sabha from the date of his conviction, as per the terms of Article 102 (1)(e) of the Constitution and Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951. Gandhi was sentenced to two years imprisonment for his “why all thieves have Modi surname” comment he allegedly made during the parliamentary election campaign in 2019. The court suspended the sentence for 30 days, so that Gandhi can appeal in a higher court. The court has given bail to him on ₹10,000 bond. According to the Section 8(3) of the Representation of the People (RP) Act, 1951, which guides the disqualification of a legislator, the moment a Member of Parliament is convicted of any offence and sentenced for at least two years, she or he attracts disqualification. Experts though have differing views on whether the conviction and sentencing means immediate disqualification or the Wayanad MP gets time if he appeals. Gandhi is the second MP to be disqualified in the recent times. Reacting to Gandhi’s disqualification, Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor said he was stunned by the rapid action. “I’m stunned by this action and by its rapidity, within 24 hours of the court verdict and while an appeal was known to be in process. This is politics with the gloves off and it bodes ill for our democracy,” he tweeted. Reacting to his disqualification, [Gandhi on Friday said he was fighting to restore the country’s voice]( and will pay any price to do so. “I am fighting for the voice of India and am ready to pay any price (for it),” Gandhi tweeted in Hindi. His tweet followed his disqualification as a Lok Sabha MP earlier on Friday. The Congress on Friday came down heavily on the Centre over Gandhi’s disqualification as a Lok Sabha member, calling it a “strangulation of democracy” while exuding confidence that the disqualification will be revoked through a stay on his conviction by a higher court. The party alleged that Gandhi’s disqualification is part of a “pattern” to stop him from speaking out against the Central government and also an attempt to divert public attention from real issues. Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters in the national capital, Congress national spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi and senior leader Jairam Ramesh lashed out at the Centre over the disqualification of the former national party president. “The issue before us is political, more than it is legal. It is a political issue because it signifies the systematic, repetitive emasculation of democratic institutions by the ruling party. It signifies the strangulation of democracy itself. We know that defamation is an exception to free speech, but over the last several years, we have had repeated examples of unthinkable assaults on freedom of speech, more importantly, freedom after speech. We all know that Rahul Gandhi has been speaking fearlessly inside and outside Parliament. He is paying a price for it,” Singhvi said. He said that the government was resorting to new methods to “throttle” Rahul Gandhi’s voice. “This government is rattled because he clearly speaks with facts and figures on demonetisation. Be it the supposed clean chit to China, or the GST, he is consistently aggressive and open in his questioning. Therefore this government is finding new techniques of throttling his voice,” Singhvi alleged. On the criticism by the BJP following Rahul Gandhi’s remarks on Indian democracy in the U.K. recently, Singhvi said the Congress leader is not entitled to speak freely on grounds of “fake and imaginary nationalism”. Rahul Gandhi goes abroad, he is not entitled to speak freely on grounds of fake nationalism, created imaginary nationalism. He comes back and his speeches abroad become the basis of action against him inside Parliament. All of this is part of a pattern to stop him (from speaking out against this government), to divert public attention from the real and burning issues before the nation today. It is also intended to create a fear psychosis among those who dare to question this government,” he said. Singhvi said Gandhi will emerge victorious in the higher court in the defamation case. “We are confident that we will get a stay on his conviction, which will, in turn, remove the very basis of this disqualification. We have full faith in the law. We believe we will emerge victorious in the near future,” he said. Rahul Gandhi may have to vacate bungalow unless he gets relief from higher court: official Following his disqualification as an MP, [Rahul Gandhi may have to vacate his official bungalow]( in Lutyens’ Delhi within a month if he does not get relief from a higher court in the criminal defamation case, an official said on March 24. Gandhi was allotted the 12, Tughlaq Lane bungalow after his election as a Lok Sabha MP in 2004. On Friday, the Lok Sabha Secretariat disqualified him as an MP, effective March 23, after he was convicted by a Surat court in an 2019 criminal defamation case and sentenced him to two years in jail. Giving immediate bail, the court allowed the former Congress president 30 days to appeal in a higher court. “As he has been disqualified from Lok Sabha, he is not entitled to a government accommodation. According to rules, he will have to vacate his official bungalow within a month since the date of disqualification order,” an official of the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry said. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had to vacate her official Lodhi Estate bungalow in July 2020 as she was no longer eligible for it after her security cover had been downgraded. The Congress party has said it would fight the conviction and disqualification of Rahul Gandhi politically and legally. Following his disqualification, Rahul Gandhi would not be able to contest elections for eight years unless a higher court stays his conviction and sentence. Opposition holds protest march alleging ‘democracy in danger’, seeks JPC probe into Adani issue Several opposition parties on Friday [held a protest march from Parliament]( alleging that “democracy is in danger” and demanding a JPC probe into the Adani issue. Addressing the media at Vijay Chowk, several leaders, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, also raised the issue of Rahul Gandhi’s conviction in a 2019 criminal defamation case by a Surat court and alleged that the government was targeting the opposition with cases to suppress their voices. After a protest inside the Parliament House complex, a host of Opposition leaders from parties such as the CPI, CPI(M), Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray), JD(U) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), marched to Vijay Chowk, holding placards like ‘We demand JPC’ and ‘Save LIC’ and a huge banner in front of them with ‘Democracy in Danger’ written on it. “We’re fighting for JPC into Adani issue for months. They have a majority but the BJP is scared as there’s something fishy. We’ll keep fighting unitedly for it,” Kharge said. He also hit out at BJP chief J.P. Nadda over his allegation on Rahul Gandhi comparing OBC communities to thieves and accused the BJP of indulging in “caste politics”. AAP’s Sanjay Singh said Gandhi’s conviction shows that the government wants to finish off the opposition by slapping cases on them. Lok Sabha Secretariat quick to disqualify, slow to reinstate: NCP’s Mohammed Faizal on Rahul Gandhi’s debarment Waiting to be reinstated as a Member of Parliament after his disqualification following conviction in a criminal case, [NCP leader Mohammed Faizal on March 24 said]( the Lok Sabha Secretariat was very quick to disqualify, as in his and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s case, but very slow to reinstate. Faizal stood disqualified from membership of the Lok Sabha from January 11, the date of his conviction by a sessions court in Kavaratti, according to a notification issued on January 13 by the Lok Sabha Secretariat. Later, the Kerala High Court on January 25 suspended Faizal’s conviction, saying that not doing so would result in fresh elections for his vacant seat which would impose an immense financial burden on the government and the public. However, despite the Kerala HC order and a subsequent Law Ministry recommendation that he be reinstated, the LS Secretariat is yet to issue an order reinstating him, Faizal said. The former MP is yet to be allowed inside the Lok Sabha despite his conviction being suspended by the Kerala High Court. “The Lok Sabha Secretariat without a hitch is quick to disqualify. But they take their own time where reinstatement is concerned, even when the legal position is clear. Look at how quick they were to disqualify Rahul Gandhi. His conviction and sentencing were barely 24 hours ago,” he told PTI. Faizal said Gandhi would now have to move the High Court in Gujarat to suspend his conviction and if no relief was available from there, then move the Supreme Court. “He (Gandhi) will have to walk the same route as me,” the NCP leader said, adding that he himself was gearing up to move the apex court against the inordinate and inexplicable delay by the LS Secretariat in reinstating him. “They have been sitting on the file for nearly two months now without a reason. Whenever I make enquiries, they say they will do it shortly. I cannot keep waiting like this. I already lost one session. I have no option but to move the court,” he said. The Supreme Court in a 2013 verdict said that any MP or MLA stands disqualified from the time of his conviction if a sentence of two or more years is pronounced. Supreme Court protects members of Christian community from coercive action under anti-conversion law by UP Police The Supreme Court on March 24, 2023 [protected members of the Christian community from coercive action]( by the Uttar Pradesh Police on the basis of an FIR registered under the State’s anti-religious conversion law. A Bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud issued notice to the State of Uttar Pradesh after senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for the petitioners, said the FIR was a “cock-and-bull story” of “mass conversion”. He said the police action amounted to the “abuse of the process of law”. “I want to share something with Your Lordships… If I may be permitted… What is happening? Things are going completely out of control… Your Lordships are the only forum before which we have come. We are not protected by the police or the Magistrates. You alone can save us… They are saying forcible conversions… Children were arrested and released only at midnight,” Dave made an emotional appeal on behalf of the petitioners led by Dr. Mathew Samuel. He said the police have filed multiple FIRs against the same persons in the same incident, violating their fundamental right under Article 20(2) of the Constitution, which mandates that “no individual shall be prosecuted and punished for the same offence more than once”. “Mr. Dave, we are here. Therefore we have issued notice and stayed any coercive action pending further orders,” Chief Justice Chandrachud reassured. The petition challenges a February 17, 2023 decision of the Allahabad High Court refusing to quash the FIR registered under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021 at Fatehpur in the State. The petitioners said the incident which began the train of events occurred on February 14 last year when the members of the Evangelical Church of India, including the petitioners, were gathered in a church to pray and worship together on the occasion of Maundy Thursday. According to them, a mob barged into the church premises, began communal sloganeering, illegally locked the door of the Church with the congregants inside and called the police. The police, according to the petitioners, instead of assisting the church members, “dragged” them to the station and registered an FIR under State anti-religious law and several sections of the Indian Penal Code. The informant/complainant had identified himself as Joint Secretary, Vishwa Hindu Parishad in the FIR itself, the petition alleged. On January 23 this year, a second FIR was lodged by another person at the same police station with respect to the same incident. The informant in the first FIR was a witness in the second FIR. The petition alleged that the second FIR was lodged to tide over a flaw that only an aggrieved person could file a complaint under the 2021 law. “The purported incompetence of the informant to register an FIR under Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021 cannot be remedied by registration of a second FIR, especially when the second FIR has arisen out of the same incident,” the petition argued. It contended that the High Court’s finding that the first FIR “is of no consequence” was absurd, especially when the probe was on and several petitioners had already secured regular or anticipatory bail. Dave said 37 members of the congregation were forced to “run” after the registration of the second FIR. The court listed the case for hearing after four weeks. Government to introduce GPS-based toll system in six months to replace toll plazas The [government will introduce new technologies including GPS-based toll collection systems]( in the next 6 months to replace existing highway toll plazas in the country, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on March 24, 2023. The move is aimed at reducing traffic congestion and charging motorists for the exact distance travelled on the highways, Gadkari said. Addressing an event organised by industry body CII, Gadkari further said state-owned NHAI’s toll revenue is currently ₹40,000 crore and it is going to soar to ₹ 1.40 lakh crore in 2-3 years. “The government is looking at new technologies including GPS-based toll systems to replace toll plazas in the country...We will bring new technology in six months,” he said. The ministry of road transport and highways is conducting a pilot project of automatic number plate recognition system (automatic number plate reader cameras) to enable automated toll collection without stopping the vehicles. During 2018-19, the average waiting time for vehicles at toll plaza was 8 minutes. With the introduction of FASTags during 2020-21 and 2021-22, the average waiting time of the vehicles has come down to 47 seconds. Although there is considerable improvement in waiting time at certain locations, especially near cities, in the densely populated towns there are still some delays at toll plazas during peak hours. In Brief: Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court will [pronounce an order on former deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia]( bail plea in the now scrapped excise policy case lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on March 31. Sisodia is currently in judicial custody in the cases registered by the CBI and ED, till April 3. Special Judge M.K. Nagpal on March 24, 2023 said that the court will pronounce the order on Sisodia’s bail at 4 pm on March 31. The bail plea was filed in the case lodged by CBI. Sisodia’s bail plea in the money laundering case will be heard by this court on March 25, 2023. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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