Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been granted bail by the Supreme Court, which ruled that his “prolonged incarceration amounts to unjust deprivation of liberty,” following his arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation in June over the alleged liquor excise policy case.
The Aam Aadmi Party leader, who has spent nearly six months in jail without a trial, can now be released, as he already holds bail in the Enforcement Directorate’s case. However, he is restricted from going to his office or the Delhi Secretariat and cannot sign files without the consent of Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena.
In a short session on Friday morning, Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice Surya Kant issued separate rulings on Mr. Kejriwal’s two petitions but both concurred that the Chief Minister should be released.
Sources at Delhi’s Tihar Jail informed NDTV that he will be released later today.
Mr. Kejriwal had also contested the CBI’s arrest, which occurred just days after a Delhi trial court granted him bail in the ED case. His lawyers have criticized the CBI’s move as an “insurance arrest.”
On this point, the judges differed, with Justice Kant stating there was “no impediment” to the CBI’s arrest, while Justice Bhuyan questioned why the agency acted “only after the trial court granted bail in the ED case.”
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However, on the issue of bail, the judges were in agreement, citing that the “completion of trial (is) unlikely in the near future.” The court’s ruling was consistent with previous decisions in the case, including those involving former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Telangana politician K Kavitha, both of whom were released on similar grounds.
Similar to its ruling for Mr. Sisodia, the court stated that keeping Mr. Kejriwal in jail without scheduling a trial was a “travesty of justice,” especially since he had already been granted bail in the ED case, where he faced charges under the strict Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
“I fail to understand great urgency on part of CBI to arrest appellant when he was on cusp of release in the ED case. (Additional Solicitor General SV) Raju (appearing for the CBI) vehemently argued appellant has to first approach trial court… this can’t be accepted,” Justice Bhuyan said.
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