Manish Sisodia News: Aam Aadmi Party leader and former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia got bail from the Supreme Court after about 17 months. In the Delhi Excise Policy case, the court has granted bail to Sisodia and said that if the investigating agencies cannot ensure a speedy hearing, then they cannot oppose the bail citing the severity of the crime. While granting bail to Sisodia on a bond of Rs 10 lakh, the Supreme Court has also laid down the condition of surrendering the passport and not influencing the witnesses related to the case. Justice BR Gavai and Justice KV Vishwanathan have granted bail to Sisodia in both ED and CBI cases in the Excise Policy case.
What did the SC state as the basis for bail?- The SC said that bail cannot be denied as a punishment.
- The lower courts have realized that bail is the rule and jail is the exception.
- The judges admitted that there is no possibility of the hearing of the case being completed on time.
- The court said that Sisodia has the right to examine long documents.
The Supreme Court has commented on the lower court that the trial court was given 6 to 8 months time. The trial court and the High Court should understand that bail is the rule and jail is the exception. SC said that no one can be punished by keeping him in jail without completing the trial.
Bail to Sisodia with 4 conditionsThe court has granted bail to Sisodia with 4 conditions, saying that the appellant will have to surrender his passport, report to the investigating officer on Monday and he will not try to influence the witnesses. The Supreme Court said that Manish Sisodia has been in custody for 17 months and the hearing of the case has not started yet, thus he has been deprived of the right to early hearing.ED and CBI had argued that Sisodia should go to the trial court for bail, the court rejected it and said that if he is again sent to the trial court and then to the High Court for bail, it would be like playing a game of 'snake and ladder' for him. The bench said that no citizen can be forced to wander here and there for personal freedom.
'Keeping in custody is a violation of fundamental right'The bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice KV Vishwanathan said that in view of more than 400 witnesses and thousands of documents, there is no possibility of completion of the trial in the near future. In such a situation, keeping Sisodia in custody would be a serious violation of the fundamental right to personal freedom.Referring to Sisodia's social life, the court has said that there is no risk of his escape. Also, most of the evidence in the case has already been collected by the investigating agency, so there is no possibility of tampering. After the court's decision, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju appealed to the court to impose some conditions similar to the conditions imposed in the Arvind Kejriwal case, such as Sisodia should not go to the Chief Minister's Office or Delhi Secretariat. The court rejected this request.