New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday (September 2) granted bail to Vijay Nair, the former communications chief of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), in a money laundering case related to the Delhi excise policy, Live Law reported.
Nair, who has been in custody for approximately 23 months, was denied bail by the Delhi high court earlier. However, the Supreme Court bench comprising Justice Hrishikesh Roy and Justice S.V.N. Bhatti observed that his continued incarceration without trial would violate the principle of “bail as the rule and jail as the exception.”
The court noted that Nair’s right to liberty under Article 21 of the constitution cannot be compromised, especially when the maximum sentence upon conviction is seven years. The bench also cited the delay in the trial, which has not commenced despite assurances from the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
“The right of liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution is a sacrosanct right which requires to be respected even in cases where stringent provisions are incorporated in the special enactments. The petitioner has been in custody for over 23 months and his incarceration as an undertrial cannot be a mode of punishment without trial having commenced in the case. The universal proposition of bail being the rule and jail being the exception will be entirely defeated if petitioner is kept in custody as an undertrial for such long duration particularly when in the event of conviction, the final sentence can only be seven years in the maximum. We are of the view that petitioner deserves bail. Accordingly bail is granted on the following terms…,” Justice Roy was quoted as saying by Live Law.
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing Nair, argued that his client has already been granted bail in the predicate offense and that co-accused Manish Sisodia and K. Kavitha have also been released on bail.
The ED, represented by additional solicitor general S.V. Raju, opposed the bail plea, alleging that Nair acted as a middleman for kickbacks and citing the stringent conditions for granting bail under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
On August 27, the Supreme Court granted bail to Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC Kavitha in connection with the Delhi excise policy case. During the hearing, the court also reprimanded the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and ED for their probe methods.
Earlier on August 9, the apex court granted bail to Sisodia who was arrested while he was deputy chief minister of Delhi in connection with the national capital’s liquor policy case registered by both the ED and the CBI.
On April 2, the Supreme Court granted bail to AAP leader Sanjay Singh, arrested by the ED in connection with the same case.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, accused by the agencies of being the mastermind behind the scam, has been in jail since March 21.
