The Supreme Court on Monday (September 2) granted bail to ex-AAP office-bearer Vijay Nair, an accused in the Delhi Excise Policy case filed by the ED. The top court cited Manish Sisodia case as a reference while granting bail to the former AAP office bearer. He has been in Tihar Jail for 23 months. As an undertrial, he could not be kept in jail for an extended period. Natural justice dictates that imprisonment is an exception, and bail is the rule.
Former AAP media in-charge and accused Vijay Nair received significant relief from the Supreme Court which granted bail to Vijay Nair in the ED case. Nair was already out on bail in the CBI case. After getting bail in the ED case, Nair will walk out of the jail. The Supreme Court used the bail granted to K. Kavitha and Manish Sisodia as a basis for this decision.
Vijay Nair has been associated with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) since 2014 and used to do fund-raising work for the party. Nair was responsible for the media and communication strategy of the AAP.
The CBI earlier alleged that Nair was actively involved in irregularities in the framing and implementation of the excise policy of the GNCTD of Delhi for the year 2021-22.
A bench comprising Justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti noted that Nair has been in jail for the last 22 months in the money laundering case where the maximum punishment is seven years.
On August 12, the bench had sought a response from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on the bail plea of Nair.
Nair, who was arrested by the agency on November 13, 2022, had challenged the trial court's July 29 order dismissing his default bail plea.
On July 3 last year, the Delhi High Court had refused to grant bail to Nair and other co-accused in the money laundering case.
The money laundering case stems from a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR which was lodged after Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena recommended a probe into the alleged irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22.
