Manish Sisodia freed after 17 months in jail in Delhi excise policy case, SC says ’would be travesty of justice to...’

Senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia received a major relief from the Supreme Court on Friday after he was released on bail in both ED and CBI cases linked to the Delhi excise policy scam.

The apex court granted Sisodia bail on certain conditions. Manish Sisodia was also asked to furnish a bail bond of ₹10 lakh with two sureties. The apex court also ordered the former Delhi deputy CM to surrender his passport and report twice a week, on Monday and Thursday, before IO. He was also warned that any attempt to influence or tamper with evidence may land him in trouble.

In its order, the court refused to accept ED's request to restrict him from visiting the secretariat or CM office, as had been imposed on Arvind Kejriwal while granting him bail.

The decision was announced in an apex court hearing of the decision challenged by the Delhi High Court order. The Delhi HC, in its order, had dismissed Sisodia's bail plea in the cases being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate.

The case was heard by a bench of justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan. In its hearing, the bench said Sisodia was deprived of his right to speedy trial after he was kept in custody for 17 months without any trial.

The bench said it would be a travesty of justice to relegate him to the trial court for seeking bail in these cases.

The principle of bail is a rule, and jail is an exception

In its verdict, the top court also underlined the importance of the trial of a person kept under custody for so long and observed that the principle of bail is a rule and jail is an exception.

Former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2023 for the irregularities of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise policy. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested him on March 9, 2023, in the money laundering case stemming from the CBI FIR.

After being arrested by the CBI, Manish Sisodia resigned from the Delhi cabinet on February 28, 2023. Later, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was also arrested in the same case. However, Sisodia sought bail in the case, contending that he had been in custody for 17 months.