Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal walked out of Tihar Jail on Friday after being granted bail by the Supreme Court in the excise policy case under investigation by the CBI.
Hundreds of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supporters, including Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, gathered outside the jail to greet him. Despite the rain, Mann and Sisodia stood atop a truck, chanting slogans in support of Kejriwal, such as “Jail ke taale toot gaye, Kejriwal chhoot gaye” and “Bhrastachaar ka ek hi kaal, Kejriwal, Kejriwal”.
Kejriwal left Tihar Jail in a car, escorted by his security convoy.
The AAP leader had been arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on June 26 and had challenged the Delhi High Court’s August 5 decision upholding his arrest. On July 12, the Supreme Court granted him interim bail in connection with a money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise scam.
The Supreme Court, in granting bail on Friday, criticized the prolonged detention of Kejriwal, stating it amounted to an unjust restriction of his liberty. The court, led by Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan, granted bail upon the submission of a Rs 10 lakh bail bond and two sureties of the same amount.
Kejriwal had been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21 in relation to the excise policy case and had been granted interim bail on May 10 to participate in the Lok Sabha campaign. However, he returned to jail on June 2 after surrendering.
The court directed Kejriwal not to comment publicly on the case’s merits and stated that conditions imposed during his bail in the ED case would also apply. It also prohibited him from visiting his office or signing official documents without the Lieutenant Governor’s approval.
The court said that a trial conclusion in the near future was unlikely and dismissed concerns about potential evidence tampering by Kejriwal. Justice Bhuyan, in a separate judgment, agreed with the decision to grant bail but questioned the CBI’s timing of Kejriwal’s arrest, suggesting it was intended to block his release in the ED case.
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Justice Bhuyan criticised the CBI’s justification for Kejriwal’s detention, arguing that evasive answers cannot be equated with self-incrimination. He emphasized that the CBI should operate independently, not as a “caged parrot”.
Additionally, Bhuyan expressed doubts over the restrictions imposed in the ED case, which barred Kejriwal from his office, though he refrained from commenting further due to judicial protocol.
On September 5, the court reserved its verdict on Kejriwal’s petitions challenging both his arrest and denial of bail. The Supreme Court had earlier referred three legal questions regarding arrests under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to a larger bench for consideration.
During the September 5 hearing, Kejriwal strongly opposed the CBI’s argument that he should have sought bail first from the trial court. Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, representing the CBI, contended that in the money laundering case, Kejriwal had been sent back to the trial court for his bail plea.
