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Vijay Nair was arrested by the agency on November 13, 2022 (Image: PTI)
The Supreme Court relied on the legal principle cited by the Coordination Chamber that “bail is the rule and imprisonment is the exception” and stated that pretrial imprisonment cannot be a punishment.
The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to former AAP communications chief Vijay Nair in a money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam, saying freedom was “sacrosanct”.
The Supreme Court relied on the legal principle cited by the Coordination Chamber that “bail is the rule and imprisonment is the exception” and stated that pretrial imprisonment cannot be a punishment.
The bench, comprising Justices Hrishikesh Roy and SVN Bhatti, noted that Nair had been jailed for the past 22 months in a money laundering case, which carries a maximum penalty of seven years.
On August 12, the judge sought a response from the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Nair's bail plea.
Nair, who was arrested by the agency on November 13, 2022, had challenged the July 29 order of the trial court rejecting his default bail plea.
On July 3 last year, the Delhi High Court refused to grant bail to Nair and other co-accused in the money laundering case.
The money laundering case stems from a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) FIR in which Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena recommended a probe into alleged irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the now scrapped Delhi Excise Duty Policy 2021-22.
(This report has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from United News Agency-PTI)
