The Crossbill Team
The Supreme Court on Friday (August 9) granted bail to Manish Sisodia, who had been detained while serving as Delhi's deputy chief minister in relation to the Delhi excise policy cases investigated by both the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Sisodia was first arrested by the CBI on February 26, 2023, on accusations linked to the alleged "scam," and subsequently, the ED arrested him on March 9, 2023, in connection with a money laundering case.
A bench consisting of Justices B.R. Gavai and K.V. Viswanathan granted bail to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader in both the CBI and ED cases, taking into account the delays in starting the trial related to the liquor policy case, Bar and Bench reported.
"Appeal allowed. Delhi High Court order is quashed and set aside. He is granted bail in both ED and CBI cases," the court said.
The Court observed that with 495 witnesses and thousands of documents spanning lakhs of pages, there is "not even a remotest possibility" of the trial being concluded soon. It emphasized that detaining Sisodia indefinitely while awaiting a speedy trial would constitute a serious infringement of his fundamental right to personal liberty under Article 21.
“Sisodia has been deprived of the right to speedy trial. Right to speedy trial is a sacrosanct right. Recently in Javed Gulam Nabi Shaikh case, we dealt with this angle and we noted that when court, state or agency cannot protect the right to speedy trial, then bail cannot be opposed saying that crime is serious. Article 21 applies irrespective of the nature of the crime," the bench said.
After the judgment was delivered, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju asked the Court to impose conditions similar to those set in the Arvind Kejriwal case, such as prohibiting Sisodia from visiting the Chief Minister's office or the Delhi Secretariat. However, the bench denied this request, Live Law reported.
Sisodia was first arrested by the CBI on February 26, 2023, on accusations linked to the alleged "scam," and subsequently, the ED arrested him on March 9, 2023, in connection with a money laundering case.
A bench consisting of Justices B.R. Gavai and K.V. Viswanathan granted bail to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader in both the CBI and ED cases, taking into account the delays in starting the trial related to the liquor policy case, Bar and Bench reported.
"Appeal allowed. Delhi High Court order is quashed and set aside. He is granted bail in both ED and CBI cases," the court said.
The Court observed that with 495 witnesses and thousands of documents spanning lakhs of pages, there is "not even a remotest possibility" of the trial being concluded soon. It emphasized that detaining Sisodia indefinitely while awaiting a speedy trial would constitute a serious infringement of his fundamental right to personal liberty under Article 21.
“Sisodia has been deprived of the right to speedy trial. Right to speedy trial is a sacrosanct right. Recently in Javed Gulam Nabi Shaikh case, we dealt with this angle and we noted that when court, state or agency cannot protect the right to speedy trial, then bail cannot be opposed saying that crime is serious. Article 21 applies irrespective of the nature of the crime," the bench said.
After the judgment was delivered, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju asked the Court to impose conditions similar to those set in the Arvind Kejriwal case, such as prohibiting Sisodia from visiting the Chief Minister's office or the Delhi Secretariat. However, the bench denied this request, Live Law reported.
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