The Delhi Chief Minister ( CM ), Aravind Kejriwal was granted bail on the alleged liquor policy scam yesterday. This marked the release of another politician arrested in the case.
Various other persons accused in the liquor policy case were also granted bail over the past few months. With the release, a total of eight political leaders are now out on bail in connection with the Delhi Liquor policy scam. The prominent figures includes Abhishek Boinpally ( Hyderabad Businessman ), Sanjay Singh ( Aam Aadmi Party MP ), Manish Sisodia ( former Delhi Deputy CM ), K Kavitha ( BRS Leader ), Vijay Nair ( AAP’s former communications-in-charge ), Raghav Magunta ( son of MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy ) and Srath Chandra Reddy ( Director, Aurobindo Pharma ).
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After the release of Kejariwal, only one accused remains in custody, i.e Amandeep Dhall.
A bench consisting of Justice Surya Kant and Ujjwal Bhuyan issued the bail on specific conditions, i.e Kejariwal must furnish a bail bond of Rs 10 lakh and provide two sureties. The bail conditions included, Kejariwal is barred from accessing his office or the Delhi Secretariat and cannot sign any official documents without the consent of Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena.
Following the bail order, there arose a difference in opinion in between the Judges. Justice Surya Kant observed that the arrest was not illegal whereas Justice Bhuyan criticized the CBI’s operations, suggesting that the agency should not act like a ‘caged parrot’.
Kejariwal had been incarcerated for the past six months after his arrest by the ED on March 21, 2024. The arrest was linked to the allegations of corruption linked to the Delhi Excise Policy scam.
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The charges against him include accusations of being a central figure in the scam, demanding kickbacks from liquor businessmen, and using the proceeds to fund the Aam Aadmi Party’s ( AAP ) Goa campaign in the 2022 assembly elections.
Prominent persons such as Benoy Baby, the regional Manager of Pernod Ricard India was granted bail by Supreme Court ( SC ) in the money laundering case as he had undergone 13 months of incarceration and the trial in the case had not even commenced.
Abhishekh Boinpally was granted interim bail by the SC in the money laundering case for a period of 4 weeks.
Sanjay Singh was granted bail by SC in the money laundering case, following a concession given by the Enforcement Directorate ( ED ). ED said it had no objection in granting bail to Sanjay Singh, it led to his release.
Vijay Nair was granted bail by SC in the Money Laundering Case, also it was noted that he has been in custody for a period of 23 months and the trial has not even commenced. So the principle of “bail is the rule, jail an exception” would be defeated if Nair remains in custody, the court noted.
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Manish Sisodia was granted bail by SC in both corruption and money laundering cases. The Bench opinionated that there was not even the remotest possibility of trial being completed” in the near future considering there were 495 witnesses and thousands of documents running into lakhs of pages. So to keep Sisodia in custody for an unlimited period in the hope of a speedy completion of trial would result in the violation of fundamental right to personal liberty under Article 21. The court also noted that most of the evidence in the case is documentary in nature, which has already been collected; hence there is no possibility of tampering.
BRS Leader K Kavitha was also granted bail by SC in both corruption and money laundering cases. It was noted that the prosecution complaints/chargesheets had already been filed and further custody of the leader, who had already spent over 5 months in jail, was no longer necessary.
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