Arvind Kejriwal steps out of Tihar, says prisons can't 'weaken' him

Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party supremo, on Friday left Tihar Jail, hours after the Supreme Court granted him bail in the excise policy case.

The AAP leader received a grand welcome from party workers and other leaders including Manish Sisodia, Punjab CM Bhagwat Mann and wife Sunita Kejriwal.

Kejriwal, who was arrested in March by the Enforcement Directorate and later by CBI in June, said that the prisons can't 'weaken' him and now his morale is higher than ever.


"Every drop of my blood dedicated to nation; faced difficulties but God has always been with me. They put me in jail to break my morale, but my morale is higher than ever; prisons cannot weaken me," the CM said as he walked out of jail ahead of key polls in the national capital.

He also vowed to continue fighting 'anti-national forces' working to weaken the nation.


Slogans like like "Jail ke taale toot gaye, Kejriwal chhoot gaye", "Bhrastachaar ka ek hi kaal, Kejriwal, Kejriwal" were raised by the supporters, who were gathered in large numbers.

The bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan applied a few conditions before releasing Kejriwal. While reading out the judgment, Justice Surya Kant said, "We direct Arvind Kejriwal to be released on bail subject to bail bonds of Rs 10 lakhs."

The court further directed Kejriwal to not make any public comments about the case and be present for all hearings before trial court unless exempted. Meanwhile, Justice Bhuyan also observed that he has "serious reservations on conditions imposed in Enforcement Directorate (ED) case on Kejriwal which bar him from entering the CM office."

Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21, 2024, in connection with a money laundering probe relating to alleged irregularities in the now-cancelled Delhi excise policy 2021-22.On June 26, 2024, AAP Chief Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by CBI while he was in custody of the Enforcement Directorate in the excise case.

Later, in July, the AAP leader was granted bail in the ED case of Excise Policy case but remained under custody of CBI.

The excise policy was scrapped in 2022 after the Delhi lieutenant governor ordered a CBI probe into alleged irregularities and corruption involving its formulation and execution.

According to the CBI and the ED, irregularities were committed while modifying the excise policy and undue favours extended to licence holders.