Former Delhi Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Manish Sisodia, who was released from Tihar Jail after being granted bail in the excise policy scam-linked cases on Friday, shared a picture of his "first morning tea of independence" with his wife.
Taking to microblogging site X, Sisodia said in Hindi, "First morning tea of independence…..after 17 months! The freedom that the Constitution has given to all of us Indians as a guarantee of the right to live."
"The freedom that God has given us to breathe in the open air with everyone," he added.
Sisodia received a rousing welcome by his party members alongside a massive gathering of AAP supporters outside Tihar Jail. Stepping out of the prison, the former Delhi Education Minister said, "I have not endured the pain in these 17 months, you all have suffered it. I know that the number of people in this country who love me have increased manifold in these 17 months."
His bail came as a relief for the Aam Aadmi Party ahead of the assembly elections in Haryana, which is due in the next few months.
Granting him bail on Friday, the apex court said that the leader be released in both the ED and CBI cases on personal bond of Rs 10 lakh with two sureties of like amount.
The apex court said that Sisodia had been deprived of his right to speed trial.
The SC bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan also slammed trial courts and the High Courts, saying that they appear to be "playing it safe" when they regularly deny bail in criminal cases instead of treating the granting of bail as the norm.
The top court also said that it is "high time" trial courts and High Courts recognise principle of "bail is rule and jail is exception".
The Central Bureau of Investigation had arrested Sisodia on February 26, 2023 for his alleged involvement in the purported discrepancies in the formulation and implementation of the now scrapped Delhi excise policy.
On March 9, 2023, he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in the money laundering case stemming from the CBI FIR.
