New Delhi, 9 Aug

The Supreme Court on Friday gave bail to AAP leader Manish Sisodia who has been in jail for 17 months, sharply pulling up the lower courts and saying his long incarceration without trial had deprived him of the right to speedy justice.

A bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan said in a scathing verdict it is high time trial courts and high courts recognise the principle that "bail is rule and jail is exception". "As observed time and again, prolonged incarceration before being pronounced guilty of an offence should not be permitted to become punishment without trial," the bench said while describing Sisodia as a man with “deep roots in society”.

The former Delhi deputy chief minister was arrested by both the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in corruption and money laundering cases linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.

With the apex court granting him bail in both cases, Sisodia is likely to come out of jail today after furnishing bail bond of Rs 10 lakh along with two sureties of a like amount.

Listing the conditions for his bail, the judges said he will have to surrender his passport to the special trial court and not make any attempt to either influence witnesses or tamper with evidence. Besides, he will have to report to the investigating officer every Monday and Thursday between 10-11 am.

"We find that, on account of a long period of incarceration running for around 17 months and the trial even not having been commenced, the appellant (Sisodia) has been deprived of his right to speedy trial," the bench said.

"As observed by this court, the right to speedy trial and the right to liberty are sacrosanct rights. On denial of these rights, the trial court as well as the high court ought to have given due weightage to this factor," it said.

Over a period of time, the court had observed that trial courts and high courts have forgotten a very well-settled principle of law that bail is not to be withheld as a punishment, the bench said while referring to earlier judgments.

"From our experience, we can say that it appears that the trial courts and the high courts attempt to play safe in matters of grant of bail. The principle that bail is a rule and refusal is an exception is, at times, followed in breach," it said.

The bench said on account of non-grant of bail even in straightforward open and shut cases, the apex court is flooded with a huge number of bail petitions. This adds to the huge pendency.

Keeping Sisodia behind bars for an unlimited period of time in the hope of speedy completion of trial would deprive his fundamental right to liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution, the judges said. "In the present case, the appellant (Sisodia) is having deep roots in society. There is no possibility of him fleeing from the country and not being available for facing the trial. In any case, conditions can be imposed to address the concern of the state," it said.

The bench set aside the 21 May verdict of the Delhi High Court which had dismissed Sisodia's pleas seeking bail in both these cases.

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 had opposed his bail pleas. He was nabbed by the CBI on February 26, 2023 for purported irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the now scrapped Delhi excise policy 2021-22.

The following month, the ED arrested him in the money laundering case stemming from the CBI FIR on 9 March, 2023. He resigned from the Delhi cabinet on 28 February, 2023.