Supreme Court Grants Bail to AAP Leader Manish Sisodia
New Delhi, India, August 9: The Supreme Court of India has granted bail to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia. The court noted that Sisodia has strong ties to the community and is unlikely to flee. The trial is expected to take a long time due to the large number of witnesses and documents involved.
Details of the Case
The Supreme Court highlighted that there are 493 witnesses and thousands of pages of documents, making it clear that the trial will not conclude soon. The court emphasized that keeping Sisodia in jail for an extended period would violate his right to liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.
Conditions for Bail
A bench of justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan imposed several conditions on Sisodia’s bail. He must provide bail bonds worth Rs 10 lakh with two sureties of the same amount, surrender his passport, and report to the Investigating Officer twice a week. Sisodia is also prohibited from influencing witnesses or tampering with evidence.
Principle of Bail
The Supreme Court reiterated that bail should be the norm and jail the exception. The court criticized lower courts for often denying bail, leading to a backlog of cases. The court stressed the importance of the right to a speedy trial and liberty.
Background
Manish Sisodia was arrested in February 2023 by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for alleged irregularities in Delhi’s excise policy, which has since been scrapped. The CBI claims Sisodia played a key role in the criminal conspiracy related to the policy.
Doubts Revealed
Supreme Court -: The Supreme Court is the highest court in India. It makes important decisions about laws and justice.
Bail -: Bail is when someone who has been arrested is allowed to go home until their trial, but they have to follow certain rules.
AAP -: AAP stands for Aam Aadmi Party, a political party in India. It was started to help common people.
Manish Sisodia -: Manish Sisodia is a leader in the Aam Aadmi Party. He works to make things better for people in Delhi.
Community ties -: Community ties mean that a person is well-connected and trusted in their local area. It shows they are less likely to run away.
Trial process -: A trial process is when a court looks at evidence and decides if someone did something wrong.
493 witnesses -: Witnesses are people who tell the court what they know about a case. 493 is a very large number of people to talk to in a trial.
Documents -: Documents are papers or files that have important information for the court to look at.
Lower courts -: Lower courts are the courts below the Supreme Court. They handle many cases but can be overruled by higher courts.
Passport -: A passport is a document that lets you travel to other countries. Surrendering it means giving it to the authorities so you can’t leave the country.
Investigating Officer -: An Investigating Officer is a police officer who looks into the details of a case to find out what happened.
Excise policy -: Excise policy is about the rules and taxes on things like alcohol. Changes in these rules can sometimes lead to problems or corruption.