Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been granted bail by the Supreme Court of India - which found his "prolonged incarceration amounts to unjust deprivation of liberty" - following his arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation in June, in connection with the alleged liquor excise policy case.
The Aam Aadmi Party leader can now leave jail - after nearly six months without a trial - since he had earlier also secured bail in the case filed by the Enforcement Directorate. He cannot, however go to his office or the Delhi Secretariat, or sign files without Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena's consent.
In a brief session Friday morning Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice Surya Kant delivered separate verdicts on Mr Kejriwal's two pleas but agreed on the core issue - the Chief Minister must be released.
Sources at Delhi's Tihar Jail told NDTV he will be released later on Friday.
Mr Kejriwal had also challenged the CBI's arrest - which came days after the trial court in Delhi granted him bail in the ED case, and has been criticised by his lawyers as an "insurance arrest".
On this the judges differed, with Justice Kant stating "no impediment in arresting person already in custody (Mr Kejriwal had been in ED custody for weeks before the CBI's arrest)". Justice Bhuyan disagreed, pointing out the agency became active "only after trial court granted regular bail in ED case".
On the matter of bail for Mr Kejriwal, however, the judges were united, noting that "completion of trial (is) unlikely to occur in (the) immediate future". The court then ruled as it had in three other high-profile bail hearings connected to the liquor policy case - ex-Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, AAP MP Sanjay Singh, and Telangana politician K Kavitha. All three were released on similar grounds.
And, as it had for Mr Sisodia, the court said it was a "travesty of justice" to keep Mr Kejriwal in custody without notification of a trial, particularly since he had already been granted bail in the case filed by the ED, in which he faced charges under the stringent Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
"I fail to understand the great urgency on the part of the CBI to arrest the appellant when he was on cusp of release in the ED case. Mr Raju (Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the probe agency) vehemently argued the appellant has to first approach the trial court... this can't be accepted."
In strong comments Justice Bhuyan also underlined the 'bail is the rule, jail the exception' legal principle that featured in Mr Sisodia and Ms Kavitha's release. "Further detention by CBI under same predicate offense is untenable. There is presumption of innocence. Bail is the rule and jail an exception," he said.
Delhi Liquor Policy Case Explained
The Delhi liquor excise policy case involves allegations that Mr Kejriwal and the AAP received kickbacks of ₹ 100 crore, including significant payments from a 'South group' led by Ms Kavitha, for allotment of wholesale licences.
The ED and CBI believe this money was then used by the AAP to fund election campaigns, including that for the 2022 Goa Assembly election. They also believe Mr Kejriwal played a key role in drafting and clearing the controversial November 2021 policy, which was withdrawn eight months later.
Arvind Kejriwal and the AAP, and Ms Kavitha and her party, the BRS of former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, have denied all charges, and counter-accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, to whom federal agencies like the ED and CBI report, of mounting a campaign against its critics and opposition leaders, particularly before elections.
Source: NDTV