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The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and former Delhi minister Manish Sisodia in both the ED and CBI cases filed in connection with the alleged excise policy scam. Noting that Sisodia was in prison for 17 months, a bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan said the AAP leader was deprived of the right to speedy trial by the trial court and High Court.
"We find that on account of a long incarceration running around 17 months and trial having not been commenced, the appellant (Sisodia) has been deprived of the right to speedy trial," the court said.
Emphasising that the right to a speedy trial was sacrosanct, the top court said the trial court and the High Court ought to have given due weight to this. Previously, the trial court and the Delhi High Court denied bail to Sisodia.
"Courts have forgotten that bail ought not to be withheld as punishment. The principle is that bail is the rule and jail is an exception. In this case, 493 witnesses have been named. There is not the remotest possibility that the trial will conclude in the recent future," the Supreme Court said.
Sisodia is the second AAP leader after Sanjay Singh to be granted bail by the Supreme Court in the excise policy case. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been granted interim bail by the Supreme Court in the ED case. However, he is in custody in the CBI case.
Justice Gavai said keeping Sisodia behind bars for the purpose of completion of the trial would amount to violation of Article 21.
"Sisodia has deep roots in society, and he cannot flee away or face trial. The case largely depends on documentation, and thus it is all seized and there is no chance of tampering," the court further said while allowing bail.
The court also rejected the submission of the ED and the CBI that Sisodia should approach the trial court for bail, saying it would amount to making him play a game of "snake and ladder".
Relegating Sisodia to trial court and then the High Court (for bail) would be like playing a game of snake and ladder. A citizen cannot be made to run from pillar to post for personal liberty... procedures cannot be made a mistress of justice," the court said in strong remarks.
Sisodia has to furnish Rs 10 lakh as bail bond. He also has to surrender his passport and report to the police station every Monday and Thursday as per the bail conditions.
However, Sisodia has been allowed to enter the Delhi Secretariat by the Supreme Court, which rejected an oral plea by the CBI and ED asking the AAP leader be barred from discharging official duties.
Interestingly, Arvind Kejriwal, who was granted interim bail in May during the Lok Sabha elections, was barred from signing files and discharging his official duties.
