Out of jail, Sisodia’s first words: Court used Constitution power to slap dictators
Senior party leaders Sanjay Singh, Atishi and Imran Husain were present outside the jail when he was released. Rajya Sabha MP Singh was earlier jailed in the same case, and was granted bail after six months.
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This is the first time Sisodia will not have a ministerial berth in the Delhi government, at least for the time being. He returns to a party that has suffered a series of setbacks and is in dire need of a boost.
Shortly after walking out of Tihar jail at 6.45 pm on Friday, Delhi’s former deputy chief minister greeted the crowd of Aam Aadmi Party supporters: “Aap sabko azaad Manish Sisodia ka namaskar.”
With rain pelting down, Sisodia stood atop his vehicle’s sunroof and said, “Dilli ke schoolon ka ek-ek bacha dil se mere saath tha. Main unke baare main 17 mahine se sochta raha tha (each and every child in Delhi schools was with me. I was thinking about them for the last 17 months).” Before his arrest, Sisodia held the crucial portfolios of education and finance, among several others.
Thanking the Supreme Court, he said, “The court used the power of the Constitution and slapped the dictators…I have come out today because of your love, the blessings of God, the power of truth and because of Babasaheb’s dream that the Constitution would save the common man from a dictatorial government.”
He said that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will be released soon thanks to the same Constitution.
Senior party leaders Sanjay Singh, Atishi and Imran Husain were present outside the jail when he was released. Rajya Sabha MP Singh was earlier jailed in the same case, and was granted bail after six months.
Sisodia was arrested by the CBI on February 26, 2023, and subsequently by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy case.
This is the first time Sisodia will not have a ministerial berth in the Delhi government, at least for the time being. He returns to a party that has suffered a series of setbacks and is in dire need of a boost.
Just earlier this week, the Supreme Court dealt a blow to the AAP-led Delhi government when it ruled that the Lieutenant Governor had the power to nominate aldermen to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi without the government’s binding aid and advice.
In another setback, the Delhi High Court had refused to hold Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest illegal and denied him interim bail.
Sisodia being granted bail in both the CBI and ED cases against him is expected to re-energise the party, which has been operating without several key leaders for far too long, party insiders say. On Friday afternoon, an hour after the court verdict, senior party leaders gathered at the AAP office at Rouse Avenue in the national Capital and called the court decision a “victory of truth”.
Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “Without any proof, any witnesses, Manish Sisodia was arrested. The court has said that a game of snakes and ladders is going on in the country right now… The court said that since the trial did not begin within six to eight months, he should be granted bail. The court also said something very important: when it comes to bail, each and every citizen matters, and that bail is a matter of personal right. Do our High Court and lower courts not understand this?”
Sisodia is a founding member of AAP and a close confidant of party chief Arvind Kejriwal. Earlier this year, during a hearing in the Rouse Avenue Court, the CBI said that during questioning, Kejriwal had said that Sisodia was the one who recommended privatisation of liquor stores in the city under the now-scrapped excise policy. The AAP saw this as an attempt to create a misunderstanding between its top two leaders, with Kejriwal saying in court, “I did not make any statement that Manish Sisodia is guilty. Manish Sisodia is absolutely innocent. Their aim is to defame us. I told the CBI yesterday that these are absurd allegations.”
According to sources, while he was out on interim bail, Kejriwal and his wife went to meet Sisodia’s family. Sisodia has stayed by Kejriwal’s side, even as several other former party leaders have fallen away. This includes Kumar Vishwas, who has not resigned from AAP but has become a vocal critic. Vishwas was close friends with Sisodia and his family before the falling out.
Known as a leader who can calm troubled waters, Sisodia served as the much-needed push to several projects and policies even when the bureaucracy was less than forgiving with other ministers. This, however, will be the first time that Sisodia does not return to the government. He has been a Deputy CM thrice now: first during the 49-day AAP government in 2013-14, in 2015 and again in 2020.
With the Assembly elections expected to be held next February, his primary role will be to ensure that there are boots on the ground and that MLAs are not lured away.
“Organisationally, AAP has suffered over the past four months. After Arvind was arrested, there have been murmurs of discontent within. This has risen after the AAP contested Lok Sabha polls alongside Congress but did not win a single seat. There is also a lot of disillusionment because the MLAs are not able to fulfil promises made to the people because of the hurdles being raised by the office of the L-G and the bureaucracy. While there is not much Manish ji can do about the latter, organisationally his release is very valuable,” said an AAP leader.
Sisodia’s and AAP’s troubles are far from over, though. In granting him bail, the court said that it did not see any error in the order of the trial court or the High Court in considering the merits of the case, but was granting him bail as there was “not the remotest possibility of the trial concluding in near future”.
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