Personal liberty is the foundation of interim bail, says Legal Experts on interim bail granted to Delhi CM Kejriwal

“In this particular case, interim bail was granted after evaluating several fundamental aspects such as lack of criminal antecedents, significant delay in his arrest and not being a threat to the society. Further, his ability to tamper with evidence or to influence witnesses by using his office have also been negated by the strict conditions imposed on him relating to his functions as the Chief Minister.”

“It is settled law that release on bail should be decided on the specific circumstances of each case, and orders granting bail (including interim bail) are not binding precedents. If one carefully analyses the contents of the Supreme Court’s order, it is evident that there are sufficient grounds recorded for interim bail even without relying on any public interest considerations. In the future, if any politically significant personality seeks temporary release to undertake election campaigning, the necessity of her presence for campaigning or the onset of an election cannot by themselves justify grant of interim bail based on the Kejriwal’s order. The circumstances of not being a threat to society and not having criminal antecedents may weigh heavily on any interim bail application that relies on the Kejriwal order as a precedent.”