Hours after the Supreme Court granted him bail in the Delhi liquor policy case, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal walked out of the Tihar jail on Friday evening.
Upon his release, Kejriwal was greeted by dozens of jubilant supporters undeterred by rain.
Kejriwal was initially arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21. He was granted bail on May 10 to campaign in the Lok Sabha elections. After the campaigning ended, he was jailed again on June 2.
Kejriwal is under the scanner of ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the Delhi excise policy case. Fellow party leader Manish Sisodia is also being investigated by the CBI and ED in the case and was in the jail for several months.
The Supreme Court bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan granted bail to Kejriwal on a bond of Rs 10 lakh and two sureties of like amount. The SC also imposed a set of conditions for the bail.
The SC said Kejriwal cannot make any public comment on the merits of the case, cannot visit the CM Office or the Delhi Secretariat, and cannot sign any official file unless absolutely necessary to obtain the Lieutenant Governor’s sanction, according to PTI.
In his remarks, Bhuyan said that the CBI cannot justify arrest and continued detention of Kejriwal by citing his evasive replies and added that non-cooperation cannot mean self-incrimination, as per the news agency.
Granting the bail to Kejriwal, the SC said the completion of trial was unlikely in the immediate future and rejected fears of tampering by Kejriwal. It further said that Kejriwal’s prolonged incarceration amounted to unjust deprivation of liberty.
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Delhi CM Kejriwal walks out of jail on bail, greeted by jubilant supporters
