New Delhi: A special court on Tuesday issued a release order for former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) communications in-charge Vijay Nair in excise policy-linked money laundering case, registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), and corruption case, registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Special court issued release order for Nair after accepting bail bonds furnished by him in ED, CBI cases
Special Judge Kaveri Baweja issued the release order for Nair, who has been incarcerated in the cases related to the alleged excise policy scam for over 22 months, after accepting the bail bonds furnished by him in both cases.
Apex court on Monday granted Nair bail in money laundering case
The Supreme Court on Monday granted Nair bail in the money laundering case. He was earlier granted bail by the trial court in the corruption case on November 14, 2022, however, he had not furnished a bail bond after grant of bail in the corruptions case.
The CBI arrested Nair in the corruption case on September 27, 2022 and later he was arrested by the ED in the money laundering case on November 13, 2022.
Universal rule of bail being rule and jail being exception will be defeated if Nair is kept incarcerated without trial being started: Apex Court
An apex court bench comprising Justice Hrishikesh Roy and Justice SVN Bhatti on Monday granted bail to Nair, saying the universal rule of bail being rule and jail being exception will be defeated if Nair is kept incarcerated without trial being started.
The apex court, while noting that Nair has been in jail for the last 22 months in the excise policy-linked money laundering case where the maximum punishment is seven years, said that the right to liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution of India is a sacrosanct right which needs to be respected even in cases where stringent provisions are invoked.
Apex court bench also relied on legal principle of ‘bail is rule and jail is exception’ referred to by another bench while granting bail to Sisodia, Kavitha
“There cannot be a mode of punishment without a trial being commenced. The universal proposition of ‘bail being the rule and jail being the exception’ will be entirely defeated if the petitioner is kept in custody as an undertrial for such a long duration when the sentence can only be seven years maximum in the event of conviction. We are of the view that the petitioner deserves bail. Accordingly, bail is granted on the terms in this order,” the top court said.
The top court bench also relied on the legal principle of “bail is rule and jail is exception” referred to by a bench comprising Justice BR Gavai and Justice KV Viswanathan while granting bail to AAP leader and former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha leader K Kavitha in the excise policy cases.
