New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was released from Tihar Jail on Friday evening, 50 days after his arrest on corruption charges related to the alleged liquor policy scam, following the Supreme Court’s grant of bail.
Kejriwal, greeted by a throng of AAP workers, his wife Sunita Kejriwal, and senior party leaders, emerged from Tihar Jail’s Gate No 4. In his first message post-release, he expressed gratitude to the Supreme Court judges and urged voters to “save the country from dictatorship,” ahead of the upcoming Delhi election on May 25.
“I want to thank all of you… you showered me with your blessings. I want to thank the judges of the Supreme Court, it is due to them that I am in front of you. We have to save the country from dictatorship…,” Kejriwal stated.
Kejriwal also credited his release to Lord Hanuman and planned to visit the Hanuman temple in Delhi’s Connaught Place on Saturday morning.
While the court declined to extend his bail, Kejriwal can campaign for the AAP and the INDIA bloc in the ongoing election. He is scheduled to surrender by June 2, with the court indicating it would hear arguments for extended relief next week.
The Delhi CM was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21 from his official residence in Delhi. The agency alleges his involvement in soliciting kickbacks from liquor barons.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had noted that allowing Kejriwal to perform his official duties while on interim bail could have a “cascading effect.”
