Manish Sisodia, the leader of the Aam Aadmi Party gets bail
Manish Sisodia, the leader of the aam aadmi party (AAP) and a former minister of delhi, was granted bail by the supreme court on friday in the ED and cbi cases related to the purported excise policy scam. A panel of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan noted that Sisodia had been imprisoned for 17 months and stated that the trial court and high court had denied the AAP leader his right to a prompt trial.
"We find that on account of a long incarceration running around 17 months and the trial having not been commenced, the appellant (Sisodia) has been deprived of the right to a speedy trial," the judge stated. In february 2023, the cbi detained Sisodia, and the ED arrested him a month later on suspicion of money laundering.
The highest court emphasised that the trial court and the high court should have given this the proper consideration, stressing how important it was to have a prompt trial. Sisodia has previously been denied bail by both the delhi high court and the trial court. "Judges have overlooked the fact that refusing bail should never be used as a form of punishment. The idea is that incarceration is the exception, not the rule, and bail is the rule. There are 493 witnesses listed in this case. The supreme court declared that there is not even the slightest chance that the trial would end soon.