Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India]: Mumbai Congress President Varsha Gaikwad welcomed the Supreme Court verdict granting bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the excise policy case on Friday.
Speaking to media on the SC ruling, Gaikwad said that the Aam Aadmi Party chief is “setting an example by the manner in which he is fighting.”
The apex court granted bail to the Delhi CM earlier in the day, saying prolonged incarceration amounts to unjust deprivation of liberty. The court also put certain conditions on Kejriwal’s release, including that he shall not make any public comments about the case and shall be present for all hearings before the trial court unless exempted.
Gaikwad said that the Delhi CM was jailed for over 156 days and also recalled a meeting with Kejriwal earlier this year during which he shared the way he was “mistreated” inside the prison.
“We welcome a judicial process. He has been granted bail after 156 days. When he had come to Mumbai on bail, he had said about the manner in which he is being mistreated–he is not being given medicines. But the manner in which he is fighting, he is setting an example,” Gaikwad said while speaking to media on Friday.
Meanwhile, AAP called it a huge day for the party as well as the whole nation and dubbed the SC’s decision to grant bail to Kejriwal the “victory of truth”.
Addressing a press conference in the national capital, AAP National General Secretary (Organisations) Sandeep Pathak said, “This is a huge day, not just for the party, but for the whole nation and every person who has faith in the republic and judicial process. This is the victory of the truth and I hope this remains the same in the future also. We welcome the court’s decision.”
However, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) mocked the Delhi CM, saying that the ‘jail wala’ CM has become a ‘bail wala’ CM now.
“The Supreme Court has shown a mirror to ‘kattar beimaan’ AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal once again. He has got conditional bail. The ‘jail wala’ CM is now a ‘bail wala’ CM,” BJP National Spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said while addressing a press conference earlier in the day.
Kejriwal was arrested by the Directorate of Enforcement on March 21, 2024, in connection with a money laundering case relating to alleged irregularities in the now-cancelled Delhi excise policy 2021-22. On June 26, 2024, AAP Chief Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by CBI while he was in ED custody in the excise case.