India's top court frees jailed PM Modi opponent on bail

NEW DELHI

(FILES) Chief minister of the capital Delhi and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal (Center R) gestures with Punjab's chief minister Bhagwant Mann (Center L) during an election rally in New Delhi on May 11, 2024.

A top political opponent of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was granted bail on Sept. 13 after months behind bars on accusations his party took kickbacks in exchange for liquor licences.

Arvind Kejriwal, chief minister of the capital Delhi and a key leader in an opposition alliance that battled Modi in national elections earlier this year, was first detained in March over the long-running corruption probe.

A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court ruled that Kejriwal's arrest was lawful but that he should be released from custody while contesting the charges against him.

Kejriwal had earlier been freed by the same court for several weeks to allow him to campaign in this year's general election, but returned to custody once voting concluded.

His government was accused of corruption when it implemented a policy to liberalise the sale of liquor in the capital three years ago, surrendering a lucrative government stake in the sector.

The policy was withdrawn the following year, but the resulting probe into the alleged corrupt allocation of licences has since led to the jailing of two top Kejriwal allies.

Modi's political opponents have long sounded the alarm on India's shrinking democratic space.

Rahul Gandhi, the most prominent member of the opposition Congress party, was convicted of criminal libel last year after a complaint by a member of Modi's party.

His two-year prison sentence saw him disqualified from parliament until the verdict was suspended by a higher court.

Kejriwal and Gandhi are both members of an opposition alliance formed to compete against Modi and the BJP.