Indian opposition leader Arvind Kejriwal released on bail | India

One of India’s most prominent opposition leaders has been released on bail after serving nearly six months in jail over a corruption case he said was politically motivated.

On Friday, India’s Supreme Court ruled that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal must be immediately released from Delhi jail, where he has been held since his arrest in March.

The judges ruled that it would take some time before his trial would be completed and that his “prolonged detention amounts to an unlawful deprivation of liberty”.

The arrest of Kejriwal, who was detained along with other senior members of his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), came weeks before the start of the national elections and sent shockwaves through the country.

Kejriwal has been one of the most vocal critics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and his AAP party has emerged as a major electoral force in recent years, winning regional elections in Delhi and Punjab. His party is part of an alliance with dozens of other opposition parties that fought Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the elections.

The elections in June brought Modi and the BJP back to power, but with a much smaller majority in a coalition with other parties.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has accused Kejriwal and others in his party of corruption and accepting $1 billion in bribes in an alleged liquor licensing scam in Delhi.

Kejriwal has denied the allegations, insisting that his arrest was illegal and that the case was a political conspiracy by the government to stymie the opposition ahead of elections, where Modi was seeking a third term. The Modi government has denied any involvement in the cases and maintains that the CBI is acting independently.

In May, Kejriwal was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court to campaign in the elections, but was returned to jail in early June.

Friday’s decision to release Kejriwal comes after other senior AAP jailed members were granted bail in the same case. Among them was his former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who spent over 18 months behind bars. After the verdict in Kejriwal’s case, Sisodia said: “Today, truth has once again won the battle against lies and conspiracies. The locks of the dictator’s prison are being broken by the power of truth.”

In a separate judgment, Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan raised questions about the timing and necessity of Kejriwal’s arrest, saying it was “unwarranted” and his continued detention was “untenable”.

Despite pressure, Kejriwal refused to step down and has continued to rule the Delhi government from jail since March. The new bail conditions imposed by the Supreme Court judges do not give him the freedom to return to his prime ministerial duties as usual, preventing him from visiting the government secretariat, holding meetings with officials or signing certain documents.

Kejriwal walked out of Tihar jail on Friday, vowing to continue fighting against “anti-national forces that want to weaken our country”. It is likely to give a boost to the AAP, which will contest the upcoming Haryana state elections and retain power in the Delhi assembly polls early next year.