Supreme Court grants bail to Manish Sisodia, says speedy trial denied

Former deputy CM of Delhi granted bail in both CBI and ED cases

The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia in both the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) cases, considering the delay in starting the trial in the liquor policy case.

“Appeal allowed. Delhi High Court order is quashed and set aside. He is granted bail in both ED and CBI cases,” the court ordered. The court said Sisodia has been deprived of the right to speedy trial.

“We find that on account of long incarceration running around 17 months and trial having not commenced, the appellant (Sisodia) has been deprived of the right to speedy trial,” the court observed.

 

The court held that investigating agencies cannot oppose bail citing the seriousness of the offence if they cannot ensure a speedy trial.

“It is high time that the trial courts and high courts recognise that the principle of bail is a rule and jail is an exception,” the court said.

The court said the right to speedy trial is a facet of liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.

“Sisodia has been deprived of the right to speedy trial. Right to speedy trial is a sacrosanct right. Recently, in the Javed Gulam Nabi Shaikh case, we dealt with this angle and we noted that when court, state or agency cannot protect the right to speedy trial, then bail cannot be opposed saying that crime is serious. Article 21 applies irrespective of the nature of the crime,” the Bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan said.

Sisodia is required to furnish bail bonds for a sum of Rs 10 lakh with two sureties of the like amount and has to surrender his passport and report to the police station as bail conditions, the court said.

He should also not influence the witnesses or tamper with the evidence, it said.

The court further observed that, over a period of time, the trial courts and the high courts have forgotten a very well-settled principle of law that bail is not to be withheld as a punishment.

“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 is that bail is a rule and refusal is an exception, at times, followed in breach,” the order said.

It noted that in the ED as well as the CBI matter, 493 witnesses have been named and involves thousands of pages of documents and over 100,000 pages of digitised documents.

It added, “It is thus clear that there is not even the remotest possibility of the trial being concluded in the near future. In our view, keeping the appellant 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.”

Why can’t Sisodia be a minister again?

Sisodia cannot be appointed a minister since Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is presently in jail in the same matter.

As long as Kejriwal is in jail, no new minister, or deputy chief minister can be appointed.

The Delhi chief minister has to move a proposal to his secretariat for the Lieutenant Governor (L-G’s)’s approval to include Sisodia in the council of ministers and to be appointed as the deputy chief minister. Sisodia will likely be just a member of the legislative assembly (MLA). 

What the top court said

> Trial courts and high courts must recognise that “bail is rule and jail is exception”

> The right to speedy trial is a facet of liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution

> Sisodia required to furnish bail bonds for a sum of Rs 10 lakh, to surrender his passport and report to the police station as bail conditions

> Triple test for grant of bail under PMLA will not apply to the present bail plea since it is based on delay in trial