NEW DELHI, India: India’s Supreme Court granted bail to Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi’s chief minister and a prominent opponent of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after months of imprisonment over corruption allegations. Kejriwal was accused of accepting bribes through his party, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), related to a 2021 liquor licensing policy.
The two-judge bench ruled that while Kejriwal’s arrest by India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) was lawful, keeping him incarcerated for an extended period would be an “unjust deprivation of liberty,” as noted by Supreme Court Justice Surya Kant. Kejriwal was initially detained in March on financial crime charges and later faced graft accusations from federal police, which he and his party deny, claiming political motives behind the arrest.
The arrest, which occurred shortly before national elections, drew international attention and criticism. Modi’s government denied claims of politically motivated arrests. The incident is part of a broader trend of opposition politicians facing corruption charges, allegedly to weaken rivals to Modi’s rule. Kejriwal, who has led Delhi for over a decade, launched AAP to fight corruption in India’s political system.
