India court grants bail to jailed opposition leader
By Meryl Sebastian
India’s top court has granted interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, more than a month after he was arrested in a corruption case.
The court said that the bail is applicable until 1 June after which he must surrender to authorities again.
A former anti-corruption crusader, Mr Kejriwal was arrested in connection with a now-scrapped alcohol sales policy in March.
He has denied the charges against him and has called his arrest “illegal”.
The chief minister moved the Supreme Court after the Delhi High Court refused to give him bail last month. His bail was strongly opposed in court by India’s financial crimes agency, the Enforcement Directorate.
On Friday, a bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta said Mr Kejriwal would have to surrender on 2 June, two days before the results of India’s general election are due.
The court had said Mr Kejriwal would be allowed to campaign for the election upon his release but will not be allowed to perform official duties during that time.
A member of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Mr Kejriwal was arrested on 21 March, days after the dates for India’s election were announced. He was the third AAP leader to be jailed in the case.
