India election: top court releases jailed Modi critic on bail, allowing Arvind Kejriwal to campaign in polls
- Kejriwal, a staunch critic of PM Narendra Modi, was arrested on March 21 in connection with corruption allegations related to the capital territory’s liquor policy
- The temporary bail allows him to campaign in the ongoing general elections, boosting the opposition alliance of which he is a key leader
India’s top court on Friday ordered a jailed opponent of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be released on bail, allowing him to campaign in an ongoing national election.
Arvind Kejriwal, chief minister of the capital Delhi and a key leader in an opposition alliance formed to compete against Modi in the polls, was detained in March over a long-running corruption probe. Kejriwal’s government and his Aam Aadmi Party have denied the corruption allegations.
He is among several leaders of the bloc under criminal investigation, with one of his colleagues describing his arrest the month before the election as a “political conspiracy” orchestrated by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Modi and his BJP say that the investigating agencies are only doing their job and the government is not influencing them.
Supreme Court Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said Kejriwal could leave custody until June 1, the last day of voting in the six-week election.
Kejriwal’s government was accused of corruption when it implemented a policy to liberalise the sale of liquor in 2021 and give up a lucrative government stake in the sector.