Jailed Delhi leader Arvind Kejriwal gets bail in corruption case

Critic of prime minister Narendra Modi was arrested in March

India’s supreme court on Friday granted interim bail to jailed opposition politician Arvind Kejriwal in a corruption case.

It was not immediately clear if, and when, he would be released from jail as federal police have arrested him in another case.

Mr Kejriwal, chief minister of Delhi and head of the Aam Aadmi Party, was arrested on 21 March by the Enforcement Directorate, an agency controlled by prime minister Narendra Modi’s federal government.

He is lodged in the capital’s notorious Tihar jail.

The Modi critic is accused of accepting bribes to favour certain private retailers in a now-scrapped liquor policy. He denies wrongdoing and calls the case politically motivated.

Mr Kejriwal’s arrest, just weeks before the national election, sparked protests by opposition parties which denounced it as political vendetta by the Modi government.

His lawyers challenged his arrest in the top court, which referred the matter to a larger bench while giving him temporary relief on Friday.

“Given that right to life and liberty is sacrosanct and Arvind Kejriwal has suffered incarceration for over 90 days,” the court said, “we direct that Arvind Kejriwal will be released on interim bail”.

The court said Mr Kejriwal was an elected chief minister, a post that held “importance and influence”.

“While we do not give any directions as we are doubtful whether a court can direct an elected leader to step down or not to function as a chief minister or a minister, we leave it to Arvind Kejriwal to make a call," it said.

The top court ruled that “mere interrogation” could not be grounds for arrest.

Mr Kejriwal was granted bail by a Delhi court in June after it found the federal agency had failed to provide any direct evidence against him.

The bail was stayed five days later by the state’s high court, which said the lower court had granted it without going through ED’s entire material.

The same day, Mr Kejriwal was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation, India’s equivalent of the FBI, in connection with a corruption case related to the alleged excise policy scam.

His lawyer Vivek Jain said he would move the Delhi high court for bail in the CBI case on 17 July.

A Delhi court, meanwhile, extended the chief minister’s judicial custody in that case until 25 July.

Mr Kejriwal was let out on bail by the supreme court in May to campaign for the general election. He returned to jail on 2 June.

Mr Kejriwal is among three leaders of his party to have been arrested on corruption charges. He is also the first serving chief minister to be arrested in independent India.

His arrest and incarceration has deepened fears of a constitutional crisis under the Modi government and sparked protests in Delhi and the northern state of Punjab, which is also ruled by Mr Kejriwal’s party.