New Delhi:

AAP leaders, including Atishi and former deputy chief minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia, were huddled in front of a laptop, closely following the Supreme Court’s proceedings in the Delhi liquor policy case. As Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was granted bail, the AAP leaders jumped into celebrations with hugs, handshakes and reassuring smiles. 

The Supreme court today granted bail to Mr Kejriwal, saying prolonged incarceration amounts to unjust deprivation of liberty. A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan granted the relief to Mr Kejriwal on furnishing a bail bond of Rs 10 lakh, and two sureties of like amount.

Mr Kejriwal, who was arrested by the ED in the excise policy case on March 21, was granted interim bail on May 10 for campaigning in the Lok Sabha polls and has been in jail since June 2 when he surrendered.

In a post on X, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said, “Satyamev Jayate.” Kejriwal’s release from the Tihar Jail will be a shot in the arm for the party as it prepares for the elections in Delhi and Haryana.

Mr Sisodia, who was recently granted bail in the excise policy cases of the ED and CBI by the top court, said on X, “Today truth won again in the fight against lies and conspiracies. I once again pay my tribute to the thinking and foresight of Baba Saheb Ambedkar ji, who 75 years ago had strengthened the common man against any future dictator.”

AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha thanked the top court on the decision.

In a post on X, Atishi said, “Satyamev Jayate. Truth can be troubled, not defeated.” AAP Rajya Sabha MP Harbhajan Singh also welcomed Kejriwal’s release, saying “he will continue to dedicate himself to serve the people”.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader have welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision to grant bail to party chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the Delhi liquor policy case.
Former Delhi deputy chief minister and Mr Kejriwal’s close aide Manish Sisodia said the decision marked truth’s victory over “lies and conspiracies.”

“Today once again truth has won in the fight against lies and conspiracies. I once again pay my tribute to the thinking and foresight of Baba Saheb Ambedkar ji, who 75 years ago had strengthened the common man against any future dictator,” he said in a post on X.

Delhi Education Minister Atishi said, “Satyamev Jayate. Truth can be troubled, but not defeated.”

AAP MP Raghav Chadha welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision and said that the party missed his leadership.

In a post on X, he said, “Welcome back, Arvind Kejriwal, we missed you! Truth can be troubled but not defeated! Finally, the Honourable Supreme Court has given its decision to release Delhi’s son, Arvind Kejriwal, from the shackles of jail. Thanks to Honorable Supreme Court!.”

Mr Kejriwal’s wife Sunita Kejriwal, who made several appeals to the people of Delhi seeking support for him while he was jailed, congratulated the AAP.

“Congratulations to AAP family! Kudos for staying strong. Wishing also the soonest release of our other leaders,” she wrote in a post on X.

While granting bail, the Supreme Court observed that prolonged incarceration amounts to unjust deprivation of liberty.

Mr Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21, 2024, in connection with a money laundering probe relating to alleged irregularities in the now-cancelled Delhi excise policy.

On June 26, AAP Chief Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by CBI while he was in custody of the Enforcement Directorate in the excise case.

File picture of AAP leader Manish Sisodia
| Photo Credit: PTI

Aam Aadmi Party leaders lauded the Supreme Court’s pronouncement of bail for party chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

“Satyameva Jayate — the locks of the dictator’s prison are broken by the power of truth,” senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia said in a post in Hindi on social media platform X.

ALSO READ: Supreme Court grants bail to Arvind Kejriwal | LIVE updates

“Today, truth has once again won the battle against lies and conspiracies. Once again, I bow down to the thinking and foresight of Baba Saheb Ambedkar ji, who 75 years ago had strengthened the common man against any future dictator,” Mr. Sisodia said.

“Satyamev Jayate.. Truth can be troubled, but not defeated,” wrote AAP leader and Delhi Minister Atishi on X.

AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said that “false cases” by the ED, CBI and BJP were “exposed”.

“Dictatorship will not work in democracy… Dictators bow down, someone who fights is needed. Modi’s tyrannical rule could not break the spirit of Arvind Kejriwal… A mountain of lies is falling, ED, CBI, BJP’s false case has been exposed…,” he wrote on X.

Another AAP MP Raghav Chadha welcomed back the Chief Minister and thanked the top court.

“Welcome back Arvind Kejriwal, we missed you! Truth can be troubled but not defeated! Finally, the Honourable Supreme Court has given its decision to release Delhi’s son Arvind Kejriwal from the shackles of jail. Thanks to Honorable Supreme Court!” he wrote.

The Supreme Court on Friday (September 13, 2024) granted bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the case registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy. The AAP supremo will now be able to walk out of jail having been previously granted interim bail in the money laundering case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED). 

New Delhi:

In a setback for Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi High Court paused his release order in a corruption case related to the Delhi Liquor Policy until Enforcement Directorate’s petition is heard. The ED today challenged Mr Kejriwal’s bail in the case, just hours before his release from Tihar jail. 

The ED mentioned its petition challenging the trial court order for an urgent hearing before a bench of Justices Sudhir Kumar Jain and Ravinder Dudeja, which said the case file will come to it in 10-15 minutes and after that it will hear the matter.

The high court said till then the trial court order shall not be acted upon.

Mr Kejriwal’s wife, Sunita Kejriwal, and Aam Aadmi Party leaders had planned to visit Tihar Jail at 4 pm today to greet the Delhi Chief Minister.

Yesterday, a Delhi court ordered Mr Kejriwal’s release on a personal bond of Rs 1 lakh but imposed certain conditions before granting him the relief, including that he would not try to hamper the investigation or influence the witnesses.

The ED arrested Mr Kejriwal on March 21 over money laundering allegations while framing the Delhi liquor policy for 2021-22, which was later scrapped after the Lieutenant Governor raised red flags. The ED has alleged the money Mr Kejriwal got from the liquor sellers was used to fund the party’s campaign in Goa since he is the convenor of the AAP.

New Delhi:

After the Delhi court granted bail to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in an alleged excise police case, Aam Aadmi Party’s Legal team said that the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) had no proof against the party’s leaders and alleged that the case was a conspiracy of Bharatiya Janata Party.

Speaking to ANI on Thursday on the party supremo getting bail, AAP Legal Cell’s state president Sanjeev Nasiar alleged that the ED was working under “someone’s pressure.”

“Truth has won. This case was false, it was a conspiracy of the BJP party. This is a huge win for the AAP party for the country and all of us. ED has no proof against any of our leaders and they are working under someone’s pressure. They wanted to finish the political career of Arvind Kejriwal but they failed in this,” Advocate Sanjeev Nasiar said.

Advocate Rishikesh Kumar, part of AAP’s legal team, said, “Arvind Kejriwal granted bail on a bail bond of Rs 1 lakh. By tomorrow afternoon, Arvind Kejriwal will come out of jail. This is a big win for AAP leaders, country and people.”

AAP National Spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar claimed that regular bail in a PMLA case is nothing less than an acquittal.

“This case is completely fake, the whole case has been written in the BJP office. We are very grateful to the court for giving a historic verdict,” Priyanka Kakkar said.

Delhi Minister and AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj said that this decision will become a big example in our law system.

“All the institutions of the country whether it is ED, CBI, all have been taken over. Only the judiciary is left on which people trust. In PMLA, most people get relief only from the Supreme Court. Usually, lower courts never give relief. So it is evident that the central government has no proof in this case,” he said.

Punjab Minister and AAP leader Harpal Singh Cheema thanked the judiciary for granting bail to the party supremo. “A false case was done against our convenor Arvind Kejriwal. Today the justice has won,” he said.

Meanwhile, AAP leader and Minister of Power of Punjab Harbhajan Singh ETO said that the Constitution has won after Rouse Avenue court granted bail to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal

“Today the Constitution has won…A leader was arrested just ahead of the elections and today his release has made democracy win…people’s faith in the court has strengthened,” said Harbhajan Singh ETO.

Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel said there is a “wave of happiness” in the Aam Aadmi Party.

“Arvind Kejriwal getting bail is a slap on the face of the opponents of democracy, a very big slap. This happiness will be more when he returns. Now his voice will be heard openly in the House as well,” Mr Goel said.

Vacation judge Nyay Bindu of Delhi’s Rouse Avenue court on Thursday granted bail to Arvind Kejriwal on furnishing bail bond of Rs 1 lakh. However, the ED opposed the bail application.

The court refused the request of ED to postpone the process of filing of bail bond for 48 hours. ED requested the postponement so that they could avail their legal remedy to challenge the order at the High Court. The court has also said that the bail order has not been stayed.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)