Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 13: The Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal walked out of the Tihar jail on Friday evening after the Supreme Court granted him conditional bail in the liquor policy scam case debarring him entering the chief minister’s office or signing any official files.
His Aam Aadmi Party workers and leaders celebrated the occasion and gathered in large numbers outside Tihar to welcome their national convenor as Mr Kejriwal walked out of the jail claiming that his morale was “higher more than 100 times” that when he was arrested some six months ago. “I have faced many difficulties in my life but God has supported me at every step. This time too God supported me because I was honest, right…” he added.
AAP leaders and workers burst firecrackers to welcome the Delhi CM. After coming out of jail, Mr Kejriwal said, “Today I want to say that I have come out of jail and my courage has increased 100 times…The walls of their jail cannot weaken the courage of Kejriwal…I will pray to god to continue showing me the right path and I will continue fighting against all the power who are trying to weaken the country and divide the country…”
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan heard the case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the alleged Delhi liquor policy case and granted bail on a bail bond of Rs 10 lakh and two sureties, facilitating his release from the jail as he was earlier granted bail in the same case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Justice Surya Kant ruled that the prolonged imprisonment of the Delhi CM constituted an “unjust deprivation of liberty” but upheld the legality of the arrest concluding that there were no procedural irregularities. In contrast, Justice Ujjal Bhuyan deemed the CBI’s arrest of Mr Kejriwal as “unjustified.” The top court however barred Mr Kejriwal from visiting the Chief Minister’s office or the Delhi Secretariat as part of bail conditions imposed. He was also ordered not to make any public comment on the merits of the case.
Calling CBI the ‘premier probe agency of the country’, Justice Bhuyan said that the agency must be seen to act above-board. “Every effort should be seen that arrest is not made in a high-handed manner, especially in a democracy. The CBI should work to lose the perception that it is a “caged parrot.” It should be in fact seen as an “uncaged parrot”, he said.
During the proceedings, senior advocate A.M. Singhvi appearing for the AAP leader argued that Mr Kejriwal being “a constitutional functionary, cannot be a flight risk” and that there is no risk of tampering with the evidence which is documentary in nature and has already been collected by the central agency.
The AAP supremo was arrested by the ED on March 21 in connection with a money laundering case related to the now-defunct Delhi excise policy. Subsequently, on June 26, the CBI arrested him in a corruption case related to the alleged scam. Although the top court granted him interim bail in the money laundering case on July 12, he could not be released from jail due to the CBI’s corruption case.
While the BJP lambasted Mr Kejriwal and demanded his resignation as the chief minister pointing out that the apex court had held his arrest legal and debarred him from functioning as the chief minister, the opposition parties welcomed the apex court’s order and called it a “rebuke” to the BJP-led NDA government, which, they alleged was “misusing” Constitutional institutions for their “political nemesis.”
“This order of the Supreme Court is a rebuke to the central @BJP4India government, which is misusing the constitutional institutions for their political nemesis. Let the @narendramodi-led government, which has descended into politics of hatred, learn a lesson from this court order and wake up,” the Karnataka chief minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah said in a post on ‘X’.
The left parties, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), DMK and other opposition parties also welcomed the Supreme Court order granting bail to Mr Kejriwal and accused the BJP government of misusing central agencies to target opposition leaders. In a post on X, the CPI(M) said, “We welcome the Supreme Court order to grant bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Yet again, politically motivated attacks on opposition leaders by the Modi govt using central agencies have been exposed.” CPI(M) leader Hannan Mollah said central agencies are being used to target opposition leaders.
RJD MP Manoj Jha accused the centre of misusing government agencies. “It was bound to happen. We have seen what the high court said in Hemant Soren case. In the last 10 years, a culture has been developed to target political opponents using ED, CBI, I-T using fake, fictitious cases. You (Centre) have made these agencies a tool for getting your political equations right,” said Mr Jha.
In a brief session Friday morning Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice Surya Kant delivered separate verdicts on Mr Kejriwal’s two pleas but agreed that the Chief Minister must be released. Besides seeking bail, Mr Kejriwal had also the CBI’s arrest – which came days after the trial court in Delhi granted him bail in the ED case.
On this the two judges differed with Justice Kant declaring “no impediment” to the CBI’s arrest, but Justice Bhuyan asking why the agency had become active “only after trial court granted bail in ED case.” On the matter of bail, however, the judges were united, noting “completion of trial (is) unlikely in (the) immediate future.” The court then ruled as it had for others in this case, including ex-Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Telangana politician K Kavitha. Both were released on similar grounds.
And, as it had for Mr Sisodia, the court said it was a “travesty of justice” to keep Mr Kejriwal in jail without notice of a trial, particularly since he had already been granted bail in the case filed by the ED, in which he faced charges under the stringent Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
“I fail to understand great urgency on part of CBI to arrest appellant when he was on cusp of release in the ED case. (Additional Solicitor General SV) Raju (appearing for the CBI) vehemently argued appellant has to first approach trial court… this can’t be accepted,” Justice Bhuyan said.
In strong comments he also underlined the ‘bail is rule, jail exception’ legal principle that featured in Mr Sisodia and Ms Kavitha’s release. “Further detention by CBI under same predicate offense is untenable. There is presumption of innocence. Bail is the rule and jail an exception.” The Supreme Court has already underlined the primacy of this principle, which was established in 1977 by Justice Krishna Iyer, holding it valid in both money-laundering and anti-terror cases.
Justice Ujjal Bhuyan in his judgment said he had “serious reservations” with the clauses that Kejriwal cannot enter the office of the Chief Minister or sign files, stipulations that have been mentioned in the final order of the two-member bench of Bhuyan and Justice Surya Kant.
This issue has become a big political debate now with the BJP demanding Kejriwal’s resignation, saying he cannot perform the duties of the Chief Minister as per the Supreme Court’s conditions while granting him bail. The final order of the two-member bench has included bail conditions set out by another Supreme Court bench while giving Kejriwal interim bail earlier on two occasions in an Enforcement Directorate case – that he cannot enter the office of the Chief Minister or sign files.
“This Court in the ED case i.e. in Criminal Appeal No.2493 of 2024 has imposed several terms and conditions including clauses (b) and (c) vide the orders dated 10.05.2024 and 12.07.2024 which have been incorporated in clause (d) of paragraph 47(ii) of the judgment delivered by Justice Surya Kant,” Justice Bhuyan’s judgement stated.
“Though I have serious reservations on clauses (b) and (c) which debars the appellant from entering the office of Chief Minister and the Delhi Secretariat as well as from signing files, having regard to judicial discipline, I would refrain from further expressing my views thereon at this stage since those conditions have been imposed in the separate ED case by a two-judge bench of this Court,” Justice Ujjal Bhuyan noted in his judgement.
Mr Kejriwal’s wife, Sunita Kejriwal, who delivered fiery political speeches while her husband was in jail, said the BJP’s “plans” had been defeated. They want to jail opposition leaders and stay in power…”
The former Delhi Deputy CM & AAP leader Manish Sisodia called Arvind Kejriwal’s bail an “assurance that no matter who comes as a dictator, the Constitution of our country is there as a shield.” “Nothing is above the Constitution in India. The Supreme Court’s decision is not just for Arvind Kejriwal but it is an assurance that no matter who comes as a dictator, the Constitution of our country is there as a shield… It has been proven today that the arrest by the CBI was to halt the bail in the ED case… Arvind Kejriwal has Lord Ram’s blessings and the shield of the Constitution… ‘Sacchai aur kattar Imandari hamesha josh mein rehti hai’…” he said.