Supreme Court grants bail to Vijay Nair in money laundering case related to Delhi Excise Policy

New Delhi [India], September 2 : The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to Vijay Nair in a money laundering case related to alleged irregularities in the Delhi Excise Policy case.
A bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy and Justice SVN Bhatti granted bail to Nair noting that he is in custody for 23 months in the matter.
"The universal proposition of bail being the rule and jail being the exception will be entirely defeated if the petitioner is kept in custody as an under trial for a long duration," the top court said.
The top court said that Vijay Nair deserved bail subject to conditions given in Manish Sisodia and K Kavitha bail order.
The Supreme Court said that the right of liberty under Article 21 is a sacrosanct right which requires to be respected even in cases where stringent provisions are enacted under special laws.
"In the case at hand, the petitioner is in custody for 23 months and his incarceration as under trial cannot be a mode of punishment without trial being commenced," the top court said.
Vijay Nair has challenged the Delhi High Court order which denied bail to him in the liquor policy case. His bail plea was earlier rejected by the trial court.
Nair was arrested by CBI initially in September 2022 and later by ED in the matter. He has sought bail on the ground of parity that co-accused Manish Sisodia has been granted bail and trial has not been commenced in the matter. Nair counsel also submitted that his client should not continue in incarceration and deserved to be released on bail.
Earlier, in his bail plea before trial court, Nair stated that he was only the media and communications in charge of the AAP and was not involved in the drafting, framing or implementation of the excise policy in any manner and that he was being "victimised" for his political affiliation. Nair had stated that the allegations against him are wrong, false and baseless.
He asserted that his arrest by Enforcement Directorate on November 13, 2022, was completely illegal and "appears to be motivated by extraneous considerations" given that the special court was expected to pronounce orders on his bail plea in the corruption case being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation
ED earlier told the court that Vijay Nair, on behalf of leaders of the AAP, had allegedly received kickbacks to the tune of Rs 100 crore from a group, called south group.
Nair is the former Media and Communication In-charge of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the former CEO of the entertainment and event management firm Only Much Louder.
The ED and the CBI had alleged that irregularities were committed while modifying the excise policy, undue favours were extended to licence holders, the licence fee was waived or reduced and the L-1 licence was extended without the competent authority's approval.
The L-1 licence is granted to a business entity having wholesale distribution experience in the liquor trade in any state for at least five years.