Supreme Court grants bail to former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia

New Delhi, Aug 09: The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in cases registered by both the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) concerning the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy of 2021-22, Bar and Bench reported.

A Bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan quashed the Delhi High Court’s earlier order that denied bail, asserting that the prolonged delay in the trial had violated Sisodia’s right to a speedy trial—a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution.

“Appeal allowed. Delhi High Court order is quashed and set aside. He is granted bail in both ED and CBI cases,” the Supreme Court ordered, according to Bar & Bench. Sisodia has been in custody since February 26, 2023, and will now be released on bail upon furnishing Rs 2 lakh as bail bonds.

As part of the bail conditions, he must surrender his passport and report regularly to the police station. The Court emphasized that keeping Sisodia behind bars would amount to a violation of his constitutional rights, noting that there was no remote possibility of the trial being completed within a reasonable timeframe. “Right to speedy trial is a sacrosanct right,” the Bench remarked.

The Bench further criticized the routine denial of bail in criminal cases by lower courts, stating that granting bail should be the norm, not the exception. In this context, the Court dismissed the ED’s argument that Sisodia had delayed the trial by filing multiple applications, stating that the trial court had not found any of these applications to be frivolous.

“Procedures cannot be made a mistress of justice,” the Supreme Court asserted, adding that relegating Sisodia to the trial court again would be akin to “playing a game of snake and ladder.”

Sisodia’s counsel, Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, had argued that there was no substantial evidence against Sisodia and highlighted that he had already served nearly half of the potential sentence.