Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia on Friday was granted bail by the Supreme Court in the Delhi liquor policy case, PTI reported. He has been in jail for about 17 months.
The former Delhi deputy chief minister was arrested on February 24, 2023 by the Central Bureau of Investigation. On March 9, 2023, the Enforcement Directorate arrested him in the same case. He is in Delhi’s Tihar Jail.
On Friday, a bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan granted him bail in both the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation cases. The court observed that Sisodia had been deprived of the right to a speedy trial, Live Law reported.
There was “not even a remotest possibility of trial being completed” considering 495 witnesses and thousands of documents spanning lakhs of pages, the bench said.
This was Sisodia’s third bail plea before the Supreme Court after a chargesheet was filed. The bench said that it would not ask the Opposition leader to go back to the trial court once again to seek bail.
“Liberty was given to revive the plea after filing of chargesheet,” the court said, reported Bar and Bench. “Now relegating Sisodia to trial court and then High Court will be like playing a game of snake and ladder. It will be travesty of justice to note that he has to be relegated to trial court again. Procedures cannot be made a mistress of justice.”
The Enforcement Directorate’s case is based on a first information report registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation alleging irregularities in the Delhi government’s now-scrapped liquor policy.
The agencies alleged that Delhi’s Aam Aadmi Party government modified the policy to ensure a 12% profit margin for wholesalers and a nearly 185% profit margin for retailers.
On Friday, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the central agencies, sought bail conditions for Sisodia such as a restriction on visiting the chief minister’s office or the Delhi Secretariat, reported Live Law.
The bench, however, denied this request.
Sisodia has been asked to submit a bail bond of Rs 10 lakh with two sureties. He has also been asked to surrender his passport, and report to the investigating officer twice a week. The Opposition leader was also instructed not to attempt to influence witnesses or tamper with evidence.
The Aam Aadmi Party on Friday welcomed the court’s decision.
“Manish Sisodia was kept in jail for 17 months in a case in which not even a single penny has been recovered till date,” the party said. “The aim of these investigation agencies of the central government is not to investigate but to put opposition leaders in jail.”
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