India's Supreme Court allows bail for Delhi's chief minister

On September 13, 2024, news from New Delhi. India's Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. As a prominent opposition leader, Kejriwal was arrested about six months ago on allegations of accepting bribes from liquor dealers.

Supreme Court justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan granted him bail on the grounds that his trial is expected to take a long time. Kejriwal is the leader of the Aam Aadmi Party, which governs New Delhi. He is one of India's influential politicians in nearly a decade and a fierce critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Kejriwal was arrested in March this year, just weeks before the national elections. He firmly denied the accusations, calling it a political conspiracy. His party is part of the "Indian Alliance" opposition coalition and was a major challenger to Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party in the elections that ended in June.

Kejriwal's arrest was widely condemned by the opposition parties, who saw it as an act by the Modi government to target opponents. They accused the government of abusing federal investigative agencies to harass and weaken political opponents, pointing out that there were multiple raids, arrests and corruption investigations against major opposition figures in the months before the elections. Kejriwal was granted temporary bail in May to participate in election activities, but returned to prison on June 2. In July, the Supreme Court granted him temporary bail, and then he was arrested by another government agency. On Friday, the court finally granted him bail in this case.

Government agencies have accused Kejriwal's party and ministers of accepting a bribe of 1 billion rupees from liquor dealers nearly two years ago to modify Delhi's liquor sales policy to benefit private enterprises. Kejriwal's release will boost his party's development. The party will face new elections in New Delhi in February next year. Kejriwal was once a civil servant. He founded the Aam Aadmi Party in 2012 and promised to eliminate corruption and inefficiency in India's political system and governance. The party's broom symbol and its promise to sweep away corruption have resonated with New Delhi residents.