SC grants bail to Manish Sisodia, to walk out of jail after 17 months

Says the AAP leader has been in custody for 17 months in the excise policy scam case and trial has not yet commenced, depriving him of the right to speedy trial

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to AAP leader Manish Sisodia in the corruption and money laundering cases linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam, noting that he has been in custody for 17 months.

A Bench of justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan said Sisodia has been in custody for 17 months and trial has not yet commenced, depriving him of the right to speedy trial.

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The Bench said it would be a travesty of justice to relegate him to the trial court for seeking bail in these cases. The top court said it is high time that the trial courts and High Courts recognise that the principle of bail is a rule and jail is an exception.

It directed that Sisodia be released on bail on a personal bond of Rs 10 lakh with two sureties of the like amount. The former deputy Chief Minister of Delhi was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on February 26, 2023 for the purported irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy 2021-22.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested him in the money laundering case stemming from the CBI FIR on March 9, 2023. He resigned from the Delhi cabinet on February 28, 2023. Sisodia had sought bail contending that he has been in custody for 17 months and the trial against him has not yet started. The ED and the CBI had opposed his bail pleas.