The
AAP on Friday called the Supreme Court verdict granting bail to party leader
Manish Sisodia as a "victory of truth" and hoped that other jailed
leaders of the party "will also get justice".
The
Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to AAP leader Manish Sisodia in corruption
and money laundering cases linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam,
noting that he has been in custody for 17 months.
A bench of justices B R
Gavai and K V Viswanathan said Sisodia has been in custody for 17 months and
trial has not yet commenced, depriving him of the right to speedy trial.
In
a post on X in Hindi, party MP Raghav Chadha said, "The whole country is
happy today as Manish Sisodia, the hero of Delhi education revolution, got
bail. I express my gratitude to the Honorable Supreme Court from the bottom of
my heart."
"Manish ji was kept behind the bars for 530 days. His crime was that he
gave a better future to the children of the poor. Dear children, your Manish
uncle is coming back," Chadha said.
Hailing
Sisodia's bail as a "victory of truth", AAP's Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay
Singh, said, "This verdict is a slap on the Centre's dictatorship. He was
in jail for 17 months. His life was destroyed in those months. He could have
worked for the education of children during that time."
"We hope that other
leaders of the party, Arvind Kejriwal and Satyendar Jain, will also get bail
and justice. I bow down before the Supreme Court for this verdict," he
added.
This
verdict is a big boost for the AAP, he said.
Delhi
Education minister Atishi posted "Satyamev Jayate" on X.
The
former deputy chief minister of Delhi was arrested by the Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) on February 26, 2023 for purported irregularities in the
formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy 2021-22.
The
Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested him in the money laundering case stemming
from the CBI FIR on March 9, 2023.
He
resigned from the Delhi cabinet on February 28, 2023.
Sisodia
had sought bail contending that he has been in custody for 17 months and the
trial against him has not yet started. The ED and the CBI had opposed his bail
pleas.