In a significant legal victory for Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the Supreme Court granted him bail in the ongoing liquor excise policy case.
Arvind Kejriwal, who has spent nearly six months behind bars following his June arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), was released after the court found that his prolonged incarceration amounted to an “unjust deprivation of liberty.”
The Supreme Court’s decision allows the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader to leave Tihar Jail, where he had been detained.
However, his bail comes with conditions: Kejriwal cannot resume his official duties, including visiting the Delhi Secretariat or signing documents, without prior approval from Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena.
The Court’s Split Verdict
In a brief Friday morning session, Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Surya Kant delivered separate judgments on Kejriwal’s bail pleas but concurred that he should be released. Their decision comes after nearly half a year of legal wrangling, with Arvind Kejriwal previously receiving bail in a related case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
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Justice Surya Kant maintained that there was “no impediment” to Kejriwal’s arrest by the CBI, while Justice Bhuyan questioned the timing, asking why the CBI acted only after Arvind Kejriwal secured bail in the ED case. Ultimately, both judges agreed on the central issue of bail, noting that with no immediate trial expected, continued detention would be a “travesty of justice.”
CBI Arrest Called ‘Insurance’
Kejriwal’s lawyers had previously criticized the CBI’s arrest as an “insurance arrest,” suggesting that it occurred only to prevent his release from jail after he was granted bail in the ED case. Justice Bhuyan echoed this sentiment in his remarks, saying, “I fail to understand the great urgency on the part of CBI to arrest [Kejriwal] when he was on the cusp of release in the ED case.”
The court also reiterated the legal principle of “bail is the rule, jail is the exception,” which had been a key factor in the bail hearings of former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Telangana politician K Kavitha, both involved in similar cases.
Political Reactions and AAP’s Boost
Kejriwal’s release has been greeted with widespread celebration within the AAP. Senior party leaders, including Manish Sisodia and MP Raghav Chadha, expressed their joy and welcomed the return of their leader. “Today, once again, truth has won in the fight against lies and conspiracies,“ said Sisodia, while Chadha added on social media, “Welcome back, Arvind Kejriwal, we missed you!”
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The bail order also comes at a politically sensitive time, just weeks before the Haryana Assembly elections. AAP has announced it will contest all 90 seats in the October polls, although pre-poll alliance talks with the Congress fell through over seat-sharing disagreements.
The Delhi Liquor Policy Case
The Delhi liquor excise policy case centers on allegations that Arvind Kejriwal and the AAP received Rs 100 crore in kickbacks from a ‘South group’ led by Telangana politician K Kavitha. Federal agencies, including the CBI and ED, allege that these funds were used to finance AAP’s 2022 Goa Assembly election campaign. They also claim Kejriwal played a central role in drafting the controversial excise policy, which was later scrapped.
While Kejriwal, Sisodia, and other AAP leaders have strongly denied the allegations, they have counter-accused the BJP-led central government of using investigative agencies to target political opponents, especially before elections.
