Manish Sisodia and the CBI ‘look out circular’ saga in excise policy case: Top developments | India News

NEW DELHI: Is there a CBI look out circular against Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia? Since morning on Sunday, there were a few rounds of two and fro on the issue.
This follows after the CBI on Friday carried out searches at 31 places including Sisodia’s residence and premises of some bureaucrats and businessmen in connection with the Delhi excise policy case.
The raids, that went on for nearly 15 hours, came after Delhi lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena last month recommended a probe by the agency into the alleged violations of rules and procedural lapses in the implementation of the policy that came into effect from November 17 last year.
Here’s all that happened on Sunday vis-a-vis the “CBI look out circular” against Sisodia:
Sisodia tweets to say LOC despite him roaming freely
On Sunday morning, Manish Sisodia had taken to Twitter and said that the CBI has issued a Look Out Circular against him; although he is roaming about freely and yet the agency cannot find him.
All raids against him have failed, as CBI searches have not found “even a single misappropriated rupee” from his house, he further said.
“What is all this drama about, Modi ji? Tell me where I need to come,” Sisodia wrote in a tweet in Hindi.

CBI’s denial
The CBI clarified a few hours later that it has not issued a Look Out Circular against Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia in the excise policy case.
“As of now” no Look Out Circulars (LOC) have been issued against any of the accused in the case, CBI officials said.
The probe agency said that the process of scrutinising documents is going on and notices are being issued to suspects for questioning. It has also not felt the need to issue an LOC against public servants so far because they cannot leave the country without intimating the government, officials said.
Is an LOC in the works?
While denying a LOC against Sisodia, CBI officials made it a point to stress that no such notice has been issued “as of now.”
“As of now” no Look Out Circulars (LOC) have been issued against any of the accused in the case, officials said. However that doesn’t rule out the possibility of LOC in future.
News agencies quoting sources in the CBI even said that the LOC might be issued soon as the procedure to do so is underway; it was a procedural matter that takes the due process to be followed before issuing it against any person.
LOC explained
The Look Out Circular (LOC) is a circular letter used by the authorities to check whether a person travelling to abroad is ‘wanted’ by the police or any agency. The circular can be used in immigration checks at international borders.
An LOC is often issued to ensure that the person absconding or wanted by the law enforcement agencies does not leave the country.
It is mostly used at the immigration checkpoints by the immigration branch at international airports and seaports.
Thus, any person who has been issued a LOC in his/her name is barred from travelling out of the country as he/she is ‘wanted’ by the law enforcement agencies of the country.

Sisodia is among 15 individuals and entities named in an FIR registered by the CBI in connection with alleged irregularities in the implementation of the Delhi government’s Excise Policy 2021-22.
Under the CBI scanner are at least two payments worth crores of rupees allegedly made to “close associates” of Sisodia by Sameer Mahendru, the owner of Indospirits, who was one of the liquor traders actively involved in alleged irregularities.