NEW DELHI — A senior Indian opposition leader was released from prison on interim bail on Friday by the Supreme Court nearly seven weeks after his arrest in a bribery case that opposition parties called a political move by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. against one of his rivals during a national election. .
Arvind Kejriwal, leader of the Aam Aadmi Party, or Common Man Party, is the top elected official in the city of New Delhi and one of the country’s most influential politicians of the last decade.
The court order allows him to campaign in the country’s national elections until voting ends on June 1, Kejriwal’s lawyer said.
Opposition leaders praised the court verdict. “It will be very useful in the context of the current elections,” said Mamata Banerjee, the top elected official of the state of West Bengal.
However, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, leader of the ruling party, said the court’s decision did not mean Kejriwal had been exonerated in the bribery case. He will have to return to jail on June 2, as pre-trial proceedings are still underway.
His supporters waving yellow and blue satin party flags greeted Kejriwal as his car left the prison gate hours after the court ruling. “Long live Kejriwal,” they chanted.
“Long live the revolution,” Kejriwal responded as he climbed off the roof of his car and briefly addressed them. His followers lit firecrackers and danced.
“I feel very happy to be among you. I told you I’d come early. I have a request to make. I seek your cooperation to save the country from dictatorship. That is my fight,” he said in an attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government for arresting him.
Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said in their order that the national elections were an important event. They rejected prosecutors’ claim that their decision would put Kejriwal in a beneficial position compared to ordinary citizens.
However, they imposed some conditions on Kejriwal to grant him interim bail. He will not be allowed to visit his office and some decisions he makes as New Delhi chief minister will have to be approved by the capital’s governor. Additionally, he cannot interact with any witnesses in the case, they said.
Kejriwal was arrested by the Federal Enforcement Directorate, India’s main financial investigation agency, on March 21. The agency, controlled by Modi’s government, accused his party and its ministers of accepting 1 billion rupees ($12 million) in bribes from liquor contractors nearly two years ago. . The arrest sparked days of protests by activists supported by other opposition parties.
Kejriwal, who remains chief minister of New Delhi, has denied the allegations. His party is part of a broad alliance of opposition parties called INDIA, which is the main rival to Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in India’s six-week general election, which began last month.
Kejriwal’s case was 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 prime minister and not a “habitual criminal” and that he deserved to be released to campaign. Kejriwal’s deputy, Manish Sisodia, was also arrested earlier in the case, weakening his party’s campaign in the national elections.
The Enforcement Directorate opposed his bail, saying that releasing Kejriwal to campaign would indicate that there are different judicial standards for politicians and other citizens.
“The right to campaign for an election is neither a fundamental right nor a constitutional right, nor even a legal right,” he said, adding that Kejriwal is not a candidate in these elections.
Kejriwal’s party is the main rival to Modi’s ruling BJP in the Indian capital, New Delhi, and in the state of Punjab, where voting will take place on May 25 and June 1, respectively.
The national elections that began on April 19 will conclude on June 1. Votes will be counted on June 4.
While the federal agency accused Kejriwal of being a key conspirator in the liquor bribery case, opposition parties said the government was abusing federal investigation agencies to harass and weaken its political opponents. They pointed to a series of raids, arrests and corruption investigations of key opposition figures.
Kejriwal called his arrest a “political conspiracy” to stop him from campaigning and accused the Enforcement Directorate of “manipulating investigation agencies for political reasons.”
Modi’s party denies using law enforcement agencies to attack the opposition and says the agencies act independently.
Kejriwal, a former civil servant, launched the Aam Aadmi Party in 2012. He promised to rid the Indian political system and governance of corruption and inefficiency.
The party’s symbol, a broom, and its promise to sweep away the administration of corruption struck a chord with Delhi residents fed up with rampant inflation and slow economic growth.
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Associated Press writer Krutika Pathi contributed to this report from New Delhi.
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