Top India court frees jailed Delhi chief minister on bail
NEW DELHI: A top opponent of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi left jail on Friday after a court ordered his release on bail to campaign in an ongoing national election.
Arvind Kejriwal, the leader of the Aam Aadmi Party, or Common Man’s Party, is the chief elected official in the city of New Delhi and one of the country’s most influential politicians of the past decade. The court order enables him to campaign in the country’s national election until the voting ends on June 1, Kejriwal’s attorney said.
Opposition leaders hailed the court verdict. “It will be very helpful in the context of the current elections,” said Mamata Banerjee, the top elected official of West Bengal state.
However, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, a leader of the ruling party, said the court’s decision did not mean that Kejriwal has been exonerated in the bribery case. He will have to go back to jail on June 2 as pre-trial court proceedings are still taking place.
Supporters waving yellow and blue satin party flags greeted Kejriwal as his car came out of the Tihar Jail hours after the court ruling. “Long live Kejriwal,” they chanted.
“Long live revolution,” Kejriwal responded as he emerged from the roof of his car and briefly addressed them. His supporters lit firecrackers and danced.
“I feel very happy to be amongst you. I told you that I would come early,” he said in an attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government for arresting him.
India’s Supreme Court said earlier he could leave custody until June 1, the last day of voting in the six-week election. “No doubt, serious accusations have been made, but he has not been convicted,” their ruling said.
“He does not have any criminal antecedents. He is not a threat to the society.”
His release was made conditional on his agreement not to make public comment on the case against him, not to interact with witnesses in the case and not to visit the offices of the Delhi government.
Kejriwal’s government was accused of corruption when it implemented a policy to liberalise the sale of liquor in 2021 and give up a lucrative government stake in the sector.
The ED has called Kejriwal the kingpin and key conspirator of the alleged excise policy scam, in collusion with AAP ministers and leaders in Delhi and other persons, alleging that he was involved in the conspiracy of formulating the 2021-22 Excise Policy to favour certain persons, besides demanding kickbacks from liquor businessmen in exchange for favours.
The policy was withdrawn the following year, but the resulting probe into the alleged corrupt allocation of licences has since led to the jailing of two top Kejriwal allies.