GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 2nd Sept. The Supreme Court of India on Monday granted bail to Vijay Nair, former communication in-charge of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), in connection with a money laundering case linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam. The court emphasized that liberty is “sacrosanct” and upheld the legal principle that “bail is rule and jail is exception.”
A bench comprising Justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti highlighted that Nair had been in pre-trial incarceration for 22 months. The maximum punishment for the charges against him is seven years. The bench noted that pre-trial detention should not serve as punishment and granted bail accordingly.
Nair, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on November 13, 2022, had challenged a trial court’s order from July 29, which had dismissed his default bail plea. Previously, on July 3, the Delhi High Court had also denied bail to Nair and other co-accused in the case.
The money laundering case emerged from a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR, which followed a recommendation by Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena to investigate alleged irregularities in the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22. The policy, which has since been scrapped, was purportedly mired in controversies leading to the ongoing legal proceedings.
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