India TV Chairman and Editor-in-Chief Rajat Sharma.
After being in jail for 17 months, liquor scam accused and former Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi Manish Sisodia was released from Tihar Jail on Friday. In the morning, he was granted bail by the Supreme Court. As soon as he was released from jail, Manish Sisodia raised slogans ‘Jail ke taale tootenge, Arvind Kejriwal chhutenge’, ‘Bhrashtachar ka ek hi kaal, Kejriwal Kejriwal’. Manish Sisodia said that he is thankful to the Supreme Court because he was put in jail under dictatorship and the Supreme Court gave him relief. The bench of Supreme Court Justice BR Gavai and KV Vishwanathan said in its decision that since the hearing of the case is getting delayed, the investigating agencies have seized the documents related to this case, the witnesses have given their statements, the accused have been arrested, so now there is no scope for tampering with the evidence in this case.
The court said that there are 493 witnesses in the case, there are documents of more than one lakh pages, so the trial will be long and no one can be kept in jail indefinitely, therefore Manish Sisodia deserves bail. Although the court did not say anything on the merit of the case in the bail decision, but the Aam Aadmi Party called the bail granted to Manish Sisodia a victory of truth. It said, BJP has put Aam Aadmi Party leaders in jail by implicating them in false cases as part of a conspiracy, soon Arvind Kejriwal will also come out of jail.
Even before Manish Sisodia came out of jail, politics started within the Aam Aadmi Party. Aam Aadmi Party’s rebel MP Swati Maliwal said that she is happy with Manish Sisodia’s bail, now he will take charge of the Delhi government, i.e. demanded to make Manish Sisodia the Chief Minister while Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj said that Sisodia will again handle the same departments that he already had, i.e. he will be made a minister. After coming out of Tihar Jail, Sisodia went straight to Arvind Kejriwal’s house and met his wife Sunita Kejriwal and his parents.
The Supreme Court said in its decision that Sisodia’s right to speedy trial has been violated, he has been in jail for the last 17 months and there is no possibility of hearing the case soon. The Supreme Court said that the trial court and the High Court have forgotten the basic rule that there is a bail rule, not jail and no one can be punished by stopping his bail. The Supreme Court said that there is no possibility of Manish Sisodia running away and there is also no fear of tampering with the evidence because the investigating agency has submitted all the evidence as record in the court. Therefore, it would not be right to keep Manish Sisodia in jail. The bench of Justice Gavai and Justice Vishwanathan said that if the trial is getting delayed, then the accused is not responsible for it and keeping the accused in jail till the trial is completed is against Article 21 of the Constitution. Therefore, Sisodia is granted bail. The court said in its decision that Sisodia will have to submit his passport to the court, and appear before the investigating officer at the police station twice a week.
Manish Sisodia was arrested by CBI on 26 February last year in the liquor scam. After this, ED also arrested him in the same case on 9 March. In these 17 months, Sisodia applied for bail from the trial court to the High Court and the Supreme Court, but his seven bail applications were rejected. Now the Supreme Court has granted him bail. Therefore, it is natural for the workers to be happy. Now the biggest question is that what will be Sisodia’s role in the party and the government after he comes out of jail? Will he be made the Deputy Chief Minister again like before? Since Kejriwal is in jail, will Manish Sisodia now be the supreme leader of the party for the time being? Many speculations are being made about this.
Sisodia getting bail and coming out of jail is a big deal for Aam Aadmi Party. Now Aam Aadmi Party leaders are hopeful that on this basis Arvind Kejriwal can also come out. After coming out of jail, Manish Sisodia raised the slogan ‘Jail ke taale tootenge, Kejriwal chhuntenge, corruption ka ek hi kaal, Kejriwal Kejriwal’. Sisodia did not raise this slogan to boost the morale of the workers, he raised it to clarify his position. Actually, rumours and discussions have a big impact on politics. Earlier also it was spread that Kejriwal had confessed in front of ED that he had approved the liquor policy on Manish Sisodia’s behest. After this, discussions started that there is a rift between Kejriwal and Sisodia, Sisodia can go against Kejriwal. That is why Kejriwal clarified his stand in the court. And now Sisodia has clarified his position by raising slogans in favour of Kejriwal and coming out of jail and going straight to Kejriwal’s house.
Secondly, those who are saying that Arvind Kejriwal can make Manish Sisodia the Chief Minister of Delhi, I think the possibility of this is negligible because Kejriwal would like to keep his control over the Delhi government and the Aam Aadmi Party. Yes, it is possible that Kejriwal makes Sisodia the Deputy CM again and gives him the right to preside over the cabinet meeting in his place. This will enable the cabinet meeting. Manish Sisodia will act as a bridge between Arvind Kejriwal and the party. Sisodia getting bail will have an impact on Delhi politics. The morale of Aam Aadmi Party workers will increase, BJP leaders will be on the defensive. As far as the ED and CBI case in the liquor scam is concerned, getting bail will not have any legal impact on the case. (Rajat Sharma)
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