Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi: The Supreme Court’s decision to grant bail to former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has been celebrated by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as a “victory of truth.” Mr. Sisodia, who was at the forefront of Delhi’s education reforms, spent 530 days in jail following his arrest in connection with the controversial Delhi liquor policy case.
Reacting to the verdict, AAP leader Raghav Chadha expressed his elation, stating, “The entire country is happy today as Manish Sisodia, the hero of the Delhi education revolution, got bail. I express my heartfelt gratitude to the Hon’ble Supreme Court. Manish ji was kept behind bars for 530 days. His crime was that he gave the children of the poor a better future. Dear children, your Manish uncle is coming back.”
The Supreme Court, in its ruling delivered by Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan, highlighted the injustice of prolonging Mr. Sisodia’s imprisonment without any significant progress in the trial. “Incarceration of 18 months… Trial not having even commenced and the appellant has been deprived of the right to a speedy trial. The trial court and High Court ought to have given due weightage to this,” Justice Gavai remarked.
AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh also welcomed the verdict, describing it as a “slap on the Centre’s dictatorship.” He emphasized the impact of Mr. Sisodia’s time in jail, saying, “He was in jail for 17 months. His life was destroyed in those months. He could have worked for the education of children during that time.” Singh expressed hope that other AAP leaders, including Arvind Kejriwal and Satyendar Jain, would also receive justice. “I bow down before the Supreme Court for this verdict,” he added.
Mr. Sisodia was initially arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on February 26, 2023, in relation to the Delhi excise policy 2021-22, which has since been scrapped. On March 9, 2023, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) also arrested him on charges of money laundering linked to the CBI’s investigation. Mr. Sisodia subsequently resigned from his ministerial post on February 28, 2023.
In response to the Supreme Court’s decision, Delhi Education Minister Atishi posted a single phrase on X (formerly Twitter): “Satyamev Jayate” (Truth Alone Triumphs).
The Supreme Court’s deliberations on the case were extensive, with the court pressing the investigative agencies for a timeline on when the trial might conclude. With 493 witnesses listed in the cases against Mr. Sisodia, the court demanded clarity on how long the legal process would take.
The case reached the Supreme Court after Mr. Sisodia’s bail pleas were previously rejected by the Delhi High Court on May 21 and by a trial court on April 30.
