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NEW DELHI, Aug 9: A bench of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan of Supreme Court granted bail to AAP leader Manish Sisodia who has been in jail for 17 months, sharply pulling up the lower courts and saying his long incarceration without trial had deprived him of the right to speedy justice.
Bench said that it is high time trial courts and high courts recognise the principle that “bail is rule and jail is exception”.
It added that “as observed time and again, prolonged incarceration before being pronounced guilty of an offence should not be permitted to become punishment without trial".
The former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister was arrested by both the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in corruption and money laundering cases linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.
With the apex court granting him bail in both cases, Sisodia is likely to come out of jail today after furnishing bail bond of Rs 10 lakh along with two sureties of a like amount.
Court added that, he will have to report to the investigating officer every Monday and Thursday between 10-11 am.
Court added that we find that, on account of a long period of incarceration running for around 17 months and the trial even not having been commenced, the appellant has been deprived of his right to speedy trial.
Bench further said that as observed by this court, the right to speedy trial and the right to liberty are sacrosanct rights & on denial of these rights, the trial court as well as the high court ought to have given due weightage to this factor
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