Supreme Court Grants Bail to Manish Sisodia After 18 Months in Jail: A Victory for AAP

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today hailed the Supreme Court’s decision to grant bail to former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, calling it a “victory of truth.” Mr. Sisodia was granted bail nearly 18 months after his arrest in connection with the alleged liquor policy case.

Responding to the Supreme Court’s ruling, AAP leader Raghav Chadha stated, “The entire nation is rejoicing today as Manish Sisodia, the hero behind Delhi’s education revolution, has been granted bail. I sincerely thank the Hon’ble Supreme Court. Manish ji was unjustly imprisoned for 530 days. His only crime was providing a better future for underprivileged children. Dear students, your Manish uncle is coming back.”

The Supreme Court’s decision, delivered by Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan, emphasized that it would be a “travesty of justice” to keep Mr. Sisodia incarcerated without significant progress in the trial. Justice Gavai remarked, “Eighteen months of incarceration… Trial not having even commenced, and the appellant has been deprived of the right to a speedy trial. The trial court and High Court ought to have given due weightage to this.”

AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh commented, “This verdict is a blow to the Centre’s authoritarianism. He was in jail for 17 months, and those months took away his ability to work for the education of children.” Singh also expressed hope that other party leaders, including Arvind Kejriwal and Satyendar Jain, would receive bail and justice. “I bow down before the Supreme Court for this verdict,” he added.

Mr. Sisodia, who was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on February 26 last year, has been embroiled in controversy over the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy of 2021-22. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested him on March 9, 2023, in connection with a money laundering case related to the CBI’s First Information Report (FIR). He resigned from his ministerial post on February 28, 2023, just days after his arrest.

Delhi Education Minister Atishi reacted to the news with a post on X, saying, “Satyamev Jayate.”

The Supreme Court’s decision to grant bail followed intense discussions, during which the top court pressed investigative agencies for a timeline on when the trial might conclude, given the 493 witnesses listed against Mr. Sisodia. In earlier hearings, the court expressed concern over the lengthy legal process, asking, “Where do you see the end of the tunnel in these cases?”

Mr. Sisodia’s case reached the Supreme Court after his bail pleas were rejected by the Delhi High Court on May 21 and by a trial court on April 30.