Manish Sisodia Gets Bail, Supreme Court Slams Delay

Manish Sisodia was granted bail by the Supreme Court Friday morning - nearly 18 months after the ex-Delhi Deputy Chief Minister was arrested by the CBI in the alleged liquor policy case. In a powerful verdict, the court said he is entitled to a "speedy trial" and that a rejection now would force him to work his way back up the system. "It would be like making him play snakes and ladders," the top court said.

Noting that Sisodia was in prison for 18 months, a bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan said the AAP leader was deprived of the right to speedy trial by the trial court and High Court. "We find that on account of a long incarceration running around 18 months and trial having not been commenced, the appellant (Sisodia) has been deprived of the right to speedy trial," the court said.

Mr Sisodia was arrested by the CBI on February 26, 2023, and by the Enforcement Directorate less than two weeks later. He has now been granted bail in both cases, with an irate Supreme Court stating he cannot stay in jail indefinitely while the prosecution works to an unconfirmed trial date.

Emphasising that the right to a speedy trial was sacrosanct, the top court said the trial court and the High Court ought to have given due weight to this. Previously, the trial court and the Delhi High Court denied bail to Sisodia.

"Courts have forgotten that bail ought not to be withheld as punishment. The principle is that bail is the rule and jail is an exception. In this case, 493 witnesses have been named. There is not the remotest possibility that the trial will conclude in the recent future," the Supreme Court said.

Sisodia is the second AAP leader after Sanjay Singh to be granted bail by the Supreme Court in the excise policy case. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been granted interim bail by the Supreme Court in the ED case. However, he is in custody in the CBI case.

Bail Conditions

Sisodia has to furnish Rs 10 lakh as a bail bond. He also has to surrender his passport and report to the police station every Monday and Thursday as per the bail conditions. However, Sisodia has been allowed to enter the Delhi Secretariat by the Supreme Court, which rejected an oral plea by the CBI and ED asking the AAP leader be barred from discharging official duties.