In a dramatic development, Manish Sisodia, the leader of the American AP Association, has been granted bail by the Supreme Court in relation to corruption and money laundering cases connected to the accused Delhi GST Policy Scam regarding leaders’ relief on Friday.
Sisodia spent 17 months in tihar jail and is expected to be released soon.
As reported by Bar and Bench on X, these are some of the main observations made by Supreme Court during the hearing:
Bail should not be punitive
The bench comprising Justice BR Gavai and Justice KV Viswanathan stressed that government cannot use denial of bail as an element of punishment. Right to trial. The justices observed that both the High Court and Trial Court had taken a cautious approach while considering bail application hence non-granting was not tantamount to punishment.
Rule must be for bail but not jail
Supreme Court judges said lower courts should now recognize bail as a general rule and imprisonment as an exception. The court also faulted lower courts for deviating from this principle asserting it would have been unfair for Sisodia to return back to trial court seeking bail.
No possibility of finishing trial within reasonable time
Justice considered it improbable that there could be any end in sight as far as prosecution was concerned. If Sisodia were detained indefinitely due to delays in his trial, such act would infringe upon Article 21 provisions (fundamental right) according to our constitution.
Right of examining documents
Court expressed concern over tampering with evidence pointing out how much reliance had been placed upon seized documents thereby reducing intervention probability; however it maintained access should still be given Sisodia so he can go through many papers involved in this case at length.
