Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court granted bail to Sukesh Chandrasekhar on Friday in connection with the bribery case involving the AIADMK’s “two-leaves” symbol. Despite this bail, Chandrasekhar will remain in jail due to other ongoing cases against him.
Special Judge Vishal Gogne, in his order, emphasized that Section 479 recognizes the paramount status of liberty and aims to protect accused persons against prolonged detention without proceedings reaching finality. Any interpretation that undermines the pre-eminence of bail over jail should be avoided. Therefore, the accused is entitled to release on bail under Section 479(1) and the third Proviso to Section 479 of the BNSS.
The court noted that the delay in proceedings could not be attributed to the accused, who had the right to challenge the order on charge. If proceedings were stayed by the Supreme Court and High Court of Delhi, the accused should not be penalized by applying the Explanation to Section 479 BNSS. Exercising a legal remedy cannot be construed as a reason to sanction the accused and deny him the benefits of Section 479(1) and the third Proviso to Section 479 BNSS.
Advocate Anant Malik, representing Sukesh, argued that the accused had been detained in the present proceedings for over 7 years and 4 months, having been apprehended on April 15, 2017. The offences he faces, as per the order dated November 17, 2018, include Section 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, Section 120-B of IPC read with Section 8 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, and Sections 170/201/419/420/468/471/474 of IPC, none of which contemplate a punishment exceeding 7 years.
On the other hand, Delhi Police counsel opposed the bail plea, citing the gravity of the allegations involving a purported recovery of Rs. 1.3 crore in cash from the accused. This cash was allegedly intended to influence the Election Commission of India to secure a favorable election symbol for one faction of the AIADMK.
The supplementary chargesheet filed by the Delhi Police named AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran, along with Chandrasekhar and several others—Mallikarjuna, Nathu Singh, Pulkit Kundra, B Kumar, Lalit Kumar, Jai Vikram Haran, and Narendra Jain—in the bribery case. The allegations suggest that Dhinakaran attempted to bribe the Election Commission to obtain the party’s ‘two leaves’ symbol. The Delhi Police arrested Chandrasekhar from a Delhi hotel, where they found him in possession of Rs 1.30 crore in cash and also seized a BMW and a Mercedes car from him.
