The Supreme Court, on Friday, i.e., August 9, granted bail to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and former Delhi Minister Manish Sisodia in corruption and money laundering cases linked to the Excise Policy Scam case.
The court noted that the AAP leader had been in custody for the past 17 months.
A bench of justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan said Sisodia has been in custody for 17 months and trial has not yet commenced, depriving him of the right to speedy trial. The top court also remarked that 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.
However, there are a few conditions on which the bail was granted to Sisodia by the apex court.
A personal bond of Rs 10 lakh
The court directed that Sisodia be released on bail on a personal bond of Rs 10 lakh with two sureties of the like amount.
Submission of passport
The Supreme Court directed Manish Sisodia to submit his passport. However, the court also noted that he is a renowned person in the country and there is no chance of him 'fleeing away'.
Marking attendance at Police Station
The former AAP minister will have to mark his attendance at police station every Monday, the top court directed.
The former deputy chief minister of Delhi was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on February 26, 2023 on the accusations of alleged irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the Delhi excise policy 2021-22, which was scrapped later.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested him in the money laundering case stemming from the CBI FIR on March 9, 2023.
Manish Sisodia resigned from the Delhi cabinet on February 28, 2023.
He had sought bail contending that he has been in custody for 17 months and the trial against him has not yet started.
According to the CBI, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), through the now-scrapped Excise Policy, extended 'unfair' benefits to some vendors, in return of which, the party received monetary benefits.
The same was used in Punjab and Goa assembly polls by the party, as per the CBI chargesheet.
