New Delhi:
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today termed the Supreme Court verdict granting bail to former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia as a “victory of truth”. Mr Sisodia was granted bail nearly 18 months after his arrest in the alleged liquor policy case.
Reacting to the Supreme Court verdict, AAP leader Raghav Chadha said, “The entire country is happy today as Manish Sisodia, the hero of Delhi's education revolution, has been released on bail. I express my sincere gratitude to the Hon'ble Supreme Court. Manish ji was held in custody for 530 days. His crime was to give a better future to the children of the poor. Dear children, your Manish uncle is coming back.”
I think I did good I think I did good I think I did good I think it's good
I think it's worth 530 euros. या। I think it's good I think I… photo.twitter.com/Mai1Zqi6XU
— Raghav Chadha (@raghav_chadha) August 9, 2024
The Supreme Court verdict, delivered by Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan, said it would be a “parody of justice” to continue Mr Sisodia's imprisonment without any significant progress in the trial. “Imprisonment for 18 months… The trial has not even begun and the appellant has been deprived of the right to a speedy trial. The trial court and the High Court should have given due weight to this,” Justice Gavai observed.
“This verdict is a blow to the dictatorship of the Centre. He spent 17 months in jail. His life was ruined during those months. He could have worked for the education of children during that time,” AAP's Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said. “We hope that other leaders of the party, Arvind Kejriwal and Satyendar Jain, also get bail and justice. I bow before the Supreme Court for this verdict.”
Mr Sisodia, who was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on February 26 last year, was at the centre of a controversy surrounding the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) subsequently arrested him on March 9, 2023, in connection with a money laundering case stemming from the CBI’s First Information Report (FIR). Mr Sisodia resigned from his ministerial post two days later, on February 28, 2023.
'Satyamev Jayate', Delhi Education Minister Atishi said on X.
The Supreme Court’s decision to grant bail followed intense deliberations, during which the high court questioned the investigating agencies on the timeline for the completion of the trial. With a staggering 493 witnesses named in the cases against Mr Sisodia, the court urged the agencies to give a clearer picture of when the trial could realistically be completed.
In an earlier hearing, the court expressed concern about the lengthy nature of the legal process. “Where do you see the end of the tunnel in these cases?” the court had asked.
The case came before the Supreme Court after his bail pleas were rejected by the Delhi High Court on May 21 and by a trial court on April 30.
