New Delhi/IBNS: The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the bail pleas of former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in the excise policy scam case, media reports said.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti, which took up the bail pleas, has directed the conclusion of the trial procedure within six to eight months.

Sisodia has been in jail since he was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on February 26.

The top Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader, who held several portfolios including the education and finance in the city government, can reapply for bail if the trial proceeds at a slower pace, said the top court.

The probe agency is investigating the Delhi Excise Policy which has handed over liquor shop licences to private players.

The CBI alleges that liquor companies and middlemen were "actively involved in irregularities in the framing and implementation" of the excise policy.

The agency also claims "close associates of  Sisodia - Amit Arora, Dinesh Arora and Arjun Pandey - collected "commission" from liquor licensees and delivered them to "the accused public servants".