Manish Sisodia, Jailed For 17 Months, Gets Bail In Delhi Excise Policy Scam; SC Slams Lower Courts

Granting bail to Manish Sisodia, the top court said he is in custody for 17 months and trial has not yet commenced, adding that this deprives his right to speedy trial. "It would be travesty of justice to relegate Manish Sisodia to trial court for seeking bail," said the Supreme Court.

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The Supreme Court also said it is "high time" trial courts and high courts recognise principle of "bail is rule and jail is exception."

Manish Sisodia was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on February 26, 2023 for his alleged involvement in the purported irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy 2021-22.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested him in the money laundering case stemming from the CBI FIR on March 9, 2023.

He resigned from the Delhi cabinet on February 28, 2023.

Sisodia had sought bail contending that he has been in custody for 17 months and the trial against him has not yet started. The ED and the CBI opposed his bail pleas.

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During the arguments in the matter, the Supreme Court reportedly had asked the CBI and ED where they see the "end of the tunnel" in these cases.

The Supreme Court had said that there were total 493 witnesses in both the cases and asked the probe agencies how long it would take it to conclude the trial.

On the bail to Manish Sisodia, AAP leader Sanjay Singh said 17 months of the politician's life "were destroyed in jail", adding that he could have "utilised it in doing so much." He said the party hopes that Arvind Kejriwal and Satyendar Jain will also be out of jail soon.