The Chief Minister of Delhi and leader of the opposition, Arvind Kejriwal, was granted interim release by the Indian Supreme Court on Friday in a graft case. However, he will remain incarcerated as a result of his arrest in a separate case.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED), India’s financial crime-fighting agency, detained Kejriwal in March on suspicion of corruption in the city’s alcohol sales regulation.
Kejriwal, 55, a fervent opponent of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a longtime champion of anti-corruption efforts, disputes any misconduct and labels the lawsuit as politically motivated.
His attorneys had appealed his arrest to the highest court, which granted him temporary respite but forwarded the case to a larger bench.
“Given that right to life and liberty is sacrosanct, and Arvind Kejriwal has suffered incarceration for over 90 days … we direct that Arvind Kejriwal will be released on interim bail,” stated Justice Sanjiv Khanna.
Kejriwal is still being held, though, as a result of his arrest by India’s federal police agency, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), last month in connection with a different corruption investigation involving the Delhi liquor policy.
On July 17, his attorney Vivek Jain told the Indian news outlet ANI that he would ask the Delhi High Court to grant him bail in the CBI case.
