Manish Sisodia walks out of Tihar jail after 17 months

Senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia on Friday walked out of Tihar Jail after 17 months behind bars and said he got bail due to the power of the Constitution, and asserted that the same power will ensure the release of imprisoned Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

As Sisodia stepped out of the jail at 6.45 pm, hundreds of rain-drenched supporters and workers showered rose petals on him. Some of them picked him on their shoulders and raised 'Inquilab Zindabad' (long live revolution) slogans.

Party leaders Atishi, Sanjay Singh, and Durgesh Pathak reached Tihar Jail to receive Sisodia and stood in the rain holding umbrellas as they waited for the former Delhi deputy chief minister to come out.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court gave Sisodia bail in corruption and money laundering cases linked to the Delhi excise policy "scam" and said his long incarceration without trial had deprived him of the right to speedy justice.

Standing through the sunroof of a vehicle, Sisodia, who was wearing a maroon-coloured shirt, greeted the joyous party supporters and workers outside

Tihar Jail, saying, "Namaskar to all of you from Azad (free) Sisodia."

"We have brought this legal battle to its logical end through the Constitution. I thank you all for being with me," Sisodia said, adding that his admirers have only increased in the last 17 months.

"Not only me but every person of Delhi and children of the country were with me emotionally in jail. I thank the Supreme Court from the bottom of my heart for using the power of the Constitution to give a tight slap to the dictatorship in the country," he said.

Hailing Baba Saheb Ambedkar, Sisodia said he was indebted to him.

"My whole life is indebted to Ambedkar," he said.

The leader said it was an emotional moment for everyone and hoped that the power of the Constitution and democracy would pave the way for the release of Kejriwal. He raised the slogan, "Bhrasthachaar ka ek hi kaal, Kejriwal, Kejriwal".

Later in the evening, Sisodia met Kejriwal's wife Sunita Kejriwal at the CM's residence.

The former deputy chief minister's bail has come as a shot in the arm for the Aam Aadmi Party ahead of the assembly elections in Haryana -- due in the next few months -- and Delhi, scheduled to be held early next year.

Party leaders claimed his release is a jolt to the "mission" to defame AAP.

"Sisodia was doing such noble work and he was put behind bars for 17 months in a fake case. There was anger among the people of Delhi over his arrest and his release will have a positive impact on our party. We will win two or four seats more than last time. In fact, I think we will win effect a clean sweep," senior party leader and MLA Durgesh Pathak said.

Celebrations also broke out at the AAP office and the residence of Sisodia soon after the Supreme Court granted bail to him.

In a statement, the party said the apex court order was a "tight slap" on the "dictatorship" of the BJP-led Centre but rued that the relief came after a year's delay. It hoped that other jailed leaders of the AAP, including supremo Arvind Kejriwal, would also get justice.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, however, called the apex court verdict a "procedural order" and asserted that it does not absolve Sisodia of the offence.

BJP's New Delhi MP Bansuri Swaraj said the AAP leader was given bail because of his appeal based on "delay in trial".

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva too hit out at the AAP, saying, "Those who were alleging murder of democracy on SC decision in MCD alderman case are now hailing the bail granted by the court to Sisodia as the victory of truth."

Is it the victory of truth that the bail was granted to Sisodia with conditions like surrendering his passport, reporting to the police station twice a week, keeping the location of his mobile phone on round the clock and depositing bonds of Rs 30 lakh before being released, Sachdeva questioned.

Meanwhile, the functioning of the Delhi government hit by the arrest of Kejriwal is expected to be back on track if Sisodia is restored to his previous position even though the process will take time, officers and constitutional experts said.

Sisodia held portfolios of 18 departments, including education, finance, excise, health and PWD among others, besides being the deputy of Kejriwal before his resignation on February 28 last year.

Sisodia would take care of the Delhi government's functioning in the absence of the chief minister when he used to leave for annual sessions of vipassana meditation for a few days.

Sisodia was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation on February 26 last year for purported irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy 2021-22.

The Enforcement Directorate arrested him in the money laundering case stemming from the CBI FIR on March 9 last year.

Sisodia 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.