Former Delhi deputy chief minister and senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia walked out of Tihar jail on Friday evening after remaining incarcerated for 17 months. The bench of Supreme Court Justice B R Gavai and Justice K V Vishwanathan, while granting him bail in the corruption and money laundering cases, said, "In our view, keeping the appellant behind bars for an unlimited period of time in the hope of speedy completion of trial would deprive him of his fundamental right to liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution. ...Prolonged incarceration before being pronounced guilty of an offence should not be permitted to become punishment without trial."
The bench said, "In the present case, in the ED matter as well as the CBI matter, 493 witnesses have been named. The case involves thousands of pages of documents and over a lakh pages of digitised documents. It is this clear that there is not even the remotest possibility of the trial being concluded in the near future." Sisodia was arrested by CBI on February 6, 2023 and was subsequently taken into custody by Enforcement Directorate on March 9. The apex court directed Sisodia to surrender his passport and report to the investigating officer on Mondays and Thursdays, while furnishing bail bond for Rs 10 lakh with two sureties of like amount. Soon after his release, Sisodia was taken in a procession by AAP supporters with slogans "Jail ke Taale Tootengey, Arvind Kejriwal Chhotengey,",'Bharashtachar Ka Ek Hi Kaal, Kejriwal Kejriwal". Sisodia went straight to Kejriwal's residence and met his wife Sunita Kejriwal. Though the apex court did not comment on the merits of the case, AAP took the bail order as "a triumph of truth". AAP leaders are now expecting Kejriwal to come out on bail soon. There appears to be confusion among AAP leaders, with minister Saurabh Bhardwaj saying that Sisodia would rejoin the cabinet and take up the same portfolios that he was handling. Rebel AAP MP Swati Maliwal, who has been campaigning against Kejriwal, welcomed Sisodia's release and said, she expected Sisodia to take over as chief minister. BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj pointed out that Sisodia has been granted bail on grounds that the trial was being delayed, and that he has not been acquitted. She said, it is the judiciary which will take the final call about Sisodia's innocence.
For Aam Aadmi Party, Sisodia coming out of jail on bail is a big relief. AAP leaders expect that chief minister Arvind Kejriwal would also be released on bail soon. The slogans "Jail Ke Taaley tootengey, Kejriwal Chhootengey", "Bhrashtachar Ka Ek Hi Kaal, Kejriwal Kejriwal", are loaded with political meanings. These slogans were raised not to boost Sisodia's enthusiasm, but to make it clear to him that it is Kejriwal who will be calling the shots in the party and government. Rumours and speculations play a big role in politics. Firstly, rumours were floated that Kejriwal had told his ED interrogators that he had cleared the liquor excise policy on the recommendation of Sisodia.. These rumours led to speculations about a possible rift between Kejriwal and Sisodia, and that the two could soon part ways. It was Kejriwal who made the position clear in court that he was misquoted. Sisodia, by getting pro-Kejriwal slogans raised and going to Kejriwal's house straight from jail, made his position clear. Secondly, I feel that there is little possibility about Sisodia replacing Kejriwal as Delhi chief minister in the near future. Kejriwal wants to keep both the party and Delhi government under his control. Sisodia may be reinstalled as deputy chief minister of Delhi and preside over cabinet meetings. In this situation, Sisodia can work as a bridge between Kejriwal and his party. Kejriwal's bail will certainly have political consequences. The morale of AAP workers will get a fillip and BJP leaders in Delhi will remain on the defensive. As far as ED and CBI cases in Delhi liquor excise policy are concerned, this bail order will have pracitcally no legal ramifications.
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