The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) celebrated on Thursday as the Delhi court granted bail to Chief Minister and party convenor Arvind Kejriwal in the excise policy case. The 55-year-old leader, who had returned to Delhi’s Tihar Jail on June 2 after his interim bail period ended, is now set to walk free after spending three months in custody following his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
As news of Kejriwal’s bail broke, Delhi minister Atishi expressed her joy on social media platform X, posting, “Satyemeva Jayate (Truth wins).” AAP MP Sanjay Singh, who was also arrested in the same case but granted bail on April 4, remarked, “Arvind Kejriwal coming out of jail at such a time is going to strengthen democracy. This is good news for the people of Delhi… ED’s statements till now were based on lies… this is a baseless fake case formed to trap Kejriwal.”
सत्यमेव जयते… https://t.co/j3SUD9JLSF
— Atishi (@AtishiAAP) June 20, 2024
Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj hailed the court’s decision, calling it a significant milestone. “Rouse Avenue court granting bail to CM Arvind Kejriwal is a milestone for the whole country. This decision will become a big example in our law system. In PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) cases, most people get relief only from the Supreme Court… usually, lower courts never give relief… so it is evident that the central government has no proof in this case.”
The Aam Aadmi Party’s allies in the INDIA bloc also welcomed the court’s decision. Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi expressed her support on X, writing, “Welcome back @ArvindKejriwal ji!” Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole echoed similar sentiments, stating, “We welcome the decision of the court on Arvind Kejriwal. He was trapped, there was no mistake of his, it became clear through this.”
Welcome back @ArvindKejriwal ji!
— Priyanka Chaturvedi🇮🇳 (@priyankac19) June 20, 2024
Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader Supriyo Bhattacharya, speaking to a media source, said, “Somewhere, this was expected. You believed in the court. This will also determine a new direction. This is a good thing.” Clyde Crasto, a leader from the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar faction), told a media source, “Arvind Kejriwal getting bail today restores our faith in our judicial system and democracy. We have been saying this from the very beginning that the case against Kejriwal was designed with an ulterior motive.”
However, the BJP was quick to downplay the significance of the bail. BJP leader Manjinder Sirsa criticized AAP’s celebratory tone, stating, “On Arvind Kejriwal getting bail, Aam Aadmi Party is saying ‘Satyamev Jayate’. If getting bail is victory, I would like to tell that there is not a single person who was arrested for corruption and did not get bail,”
Sirsa further added, “Getting bail doesn’t mean there is no evidence against you. Evidence was there, and this is why the same court sent you to jail and then gave you bail, so you can’t even say the court is biased,”
