Supreme Court grants bail to AAP leader Manish Sisodia in CBI, ED cases | Politics News

(Photo: X/@Manish Sisodia)

The court held that investigating agencies cannot oppose bail by citing the seriousness of the offence if they cannot ensure a speedy trial.

“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,” the court said.

The court stated that the right to a speedy trial is a facet of liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.

“Sisodia has been deprived of the right to a speedy trial. The right to a speedy trial is a sacrosanct right. Recently, in the Javed Gulam Nabi Shaikh case, we dealt with this angle and noted that when the court, state, or agency cannot protect the right to a speedy trial, then bail cannot be opposed by saying that the crime is serious. Article 21 applies irrespective of the nature of the crime,” the bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan said.

Sisodia is required to furnish bail bonds for a sum of Rs 10 lakh with two sureties of the like amount and has to surrender his passport and report to the police station as bail conditions, the court said. He should also not make any attempt to influence the witnesses or tamper with the evidence.

The court further observed that, over a period of time, the trial courts and the high courts have forgotten a very well-settled principle of law that bail is not to be withheld as a punishment. “From our experience, we can say that it appears that the trial courts and the high courts attempt to play safe in matters of grant of bail. The principle that bail is a rule and refusal is an exception is, at times, followed in breach,” the order said.

It noted that in the ED matter as well as the CBI matter, 493 witnesses have been named, and the cases involve thousands of pages of documents and over a lakh pages of digitised documents. “It is thus clear that there is not even the remotest possibility of the trial being concluded in the near future. In our view, keeping the appellant behind bars for an unlimited period of time in the hope of the speedy completion of the trial would deprive him of his fundamental right to liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.”

The court said that insofar as the apprehension given by the learned Additional Solicitor General (ASG), appearing for the Directorate of Enforcement, regarding the possibility of tampering with the evidence is concerned, it is to be noted that the case largely depends on documentary evidence, which is already seized by the prosecution. As such, there is no possibility of tampering with the evidence. Insofar as the concern with regard to influencing the witnesses is concerned, the said concern can be addressed by imposing stringent conditions upon the appellant.

The bench said that the triple test for the grant of bail to accused under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) will not apply to the present bail plea since the plea is based on a delay in trial.

The Supreme Court had on August 6 reserved its verdict in the bail plea in connection with the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy of 2021-22.

Sisodia has been in custody since February 26, 2023.

The case involves allegations that Delhi government officials tweaked the excise policy to benefit certain liquor sellers in exchange for bribes that were used to fund the AAP’s elections in Goa.

Why Sisodia can’t be Minister again?

Manish Sisodia cannot be appointed as a minister since Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is presently in jail in the same matter. As long as Kejriwal is in jail, no new minister or deputy chief minister can be appointed. The Delhi Chief Minister has to move a proposal to his secretariat for the Lieutenant Governor’s (L-G’s) approval to include Sisodia in the Council of Ministers and to appoint him as the Deputy Chief Minister. Sisodia will likely remain just a member of the legislative assembly (MLA).

First Published: Aug 09 2024 | 6:38 PM IST