The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to Anand Rai, the whistleblower in Madhya Pradesh’s Vyapam Scam in connection with a case under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, for which he was arrested in November.
Rai had claimed it to be a “false case” aimed to “wreak vengeance by his political rivals”.
A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and justice PS Narasimha noted that the petitioner was in custody since November 15 and ordered his release on bail. “How long will you keep him inside,” the bench asked, directing his release. Rai, who has been working as a doctor in a state-run hospital in Madhya Pradesh had challenged an order passed by the state high court on December 12, denying his bail.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal appearing for the petitioner told the Court that the petitioner has been kept in solitary confinement in jail, considered the worst punishment for a prisoner, for nearly two months. The petitioner had been invited to an event conducted on November 15 by a tribal organisation Jai Adiwasi Yuva Shakti to commemorate the contribution of freedom fighter Birsa Munda. On his way back, Rai claimed he was arrested by police on a complaint that he was part of a group which took part in sloganeering and pelted stones at a cavalcade of local political leaders during which the district collector’s staff got injured.
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