India’s Supreme Court granted interim bail on Friday to an opposition leader who was arrested nearly seven weeks ago in a bribery case that the opposition alleges was a political stunt by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government against its rivals during a national election.
Arvind Kejriwal, leader of the Aam Aadmi Party, is New Delhi’s chief elected official and one of the country’s most influential politicians over the past decade.
The court granted Kejriwal interim bail, which will allow him to campaign in the national elections until polls close on June 1, his lawyer said.
Opposition leaders welcomed the court’s ruling. “It will be very helpful considering the current elections,” said Mamta Banerjee, West Bengal’s top elected official.
However, ruling party leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa said the court’s decision did not mean Kejriwal was acquitted in the bribery case. He must return to prison on June 2, as pre-trial proceedings are still ongoing.
Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Dutta, in their order on Friday, said the national elections are an important event. They rejected pleas from prosecutors that their decision would put Kejriwal in a better position compared to the general public.
However, it imposed several conditions on Kejriwal for granting interim bail. He is not allowed to visit his office and some decisions he takes as New Delhi’s chief minister must be approved by the capital’s governor. He also cannot contact witnesses to the incident.
Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate, India’s main financial investigation agency. The agency, controlled by the Modi government, accused Mr. Kejriwal’s party and ministers of accepting 1 billion rupees ($12 million) in bribes from liquor contractors about two years ago. . The arrest sparked several days of protests by party activists supported by other opposition parties.
Kejriwal, who remains New Delhi’s prime minister, denies the accusations. His party is part of a broad coalition of opposition parties called India and is the main challenger to Prime Minister Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India’s six-week general election that began last month.
Kejriwal’s case marked the first time that an Indian prime minister was arrested while in office. His arrest, which occurred before the start of the election, dominated headlines for weeks.
His lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi said he was a sitting chief minister and not a “habitual offender” and deserved to be released to campaign. Mr Kejriwal’s deputy Manish Sisodia was also arrested in the earlier incident, weakening the party’s campaign in the national elections.
The Enforcement Directorate opposed Kejriwal’s bail, saying that releasing him to campaign would demonstrate that there are different standards of justice for politicians and other citizens.
“The right to campaign is not a fundamental right, it is not a constitutional right, it is not even a legal right,” he said, adding that Kejriwal is not a candidate in this election.
Mr Kejriwal’s party is the main challenger to Mr Modi’s ruling BJP in India’s capital New Delhi and Punjab state, where voting will be held on May 25 and June 1 respectively.
The national election, which began on April 19th, is scheduled to end on June 1st, with votes counted on June 4th.
Federal authorities accused Kejriwal of being a key co-conspirator in the liquor bribery scandal, while opposition parties claimed the government was misusing federal law enforcement agencies to harass and undermine political opponents. They pointed to a series of raids, arrests and corruption investigations against key opposition figures.
Mr. Kejriwal termed his arrest a “political conspiracy” to thwart his election campaign and accused the Enforcement Directorate of “manipulating the investigating agency with political motives.”
Prime Minister Modi’s party denies using law enforcement to target rebels and says law enforcement agencies act independently.
Kejriwal, a former civil servant, founded the Aam Aadmi Party in 2012. He promised to purge corruption and inefficiency from India’s political system and governance.
The party’s symbol, the broom, and its promise to wipe out the graft regime resonated with Delhiites fed up with runaway inflation and slowing economic growth.
