MANISH SISODIA GETS BAIL

Granting bail, the Supreme Court says bail is rule and jail is exception | Prolonged incarceration shouldn't become punishment without trial

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Underscoring that AAP leader Manish Sisodia has deep roots in society and there is no possibility of fleeing away, the Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to AAP leader Manish Sisodia, observing that the conclusion of the trial will take a long time as there are 493 witnesses, thousands of pages of documents and over a lakh pages of digitised documents.

The top court also said that the trial courts and the High Courts should recognize the principle that “bail is rule and jail is the exception”.

“It is high time that the trial courts and the High Courts should recognize the principle that bail is the rule and jail is the exception,” the top court said.

“In the present case, in the ED matter as well as the CBI matter, 493 witnesses have been named. The case involves thousands of pages of documents and over a lakh pages of digitized documents. It is thus clear that there is not even the remotest possibility of the trial being concluded in the near future. In our view, keeping the appellant behind bars for an unlimited period of time in the hope of speedy completion of trial would deprive his fundamental right to liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution,” the top court said.