After serving six months in jail for a liquor policy case, AAP MP Sanjay Singh is granted bail.

New Delhi: On Tuesday, the Supreme Court granted bail to Sanjay Singh, the head of the Aam Aadmi Party, and asked the Enforcement Directorate, which had detained Mr. Singh, pointed questions, such as why he had been imprisoned for more than six months without being given a chance to defend himself or get back the ₹ 2 crore bribe that was allegedly paid.

The agency, claiming the party collected 600 crore in bribes, was told by the court that "nothing has been recovered... there is no trace (of money allegedly received by the AAP as bribes for allotting liquor licences to the 'South Group')".

The court then ordered Additional Solicitor General SV Raju to speak with the ED and determine if Mr. Singh's detention is now necessary. Following the Enforcement Directorate's declaration that it did not desire custody, Mr. Singh was freed.

"I am making this statement (not opposing bail) without going into the merits of the case and keeping all the rights and contentions open," said Mr. Raju.

The court had already noted that in his first comments, accused person Dinesh Arora—who later became a government witness or approver—had not implicated Mr. Singh. Based on comments made by Mr. Arora, who was granted release in August, Mr. Singh was taken into custody.

Since his arrest in October in connection with the alleged liquor policy fraud, which rocked the opposition party and resulted in the arrests of Mr Sisodia and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal weeks before the election, Sanjay Singh has been detained in Delhi's Tihar Jail.

Charges of money laundering related to the purported scheme led to Mr. Singh's detention.

His previous bail requests were denied, even by the Delhi High Court, which stated in February that there was "no ground" for release.

Then, the ED had contested the bail request, claiming that Mr. Singh had been involved in the acquisition, possession, concealment, disbursement, and use of criminal gains resulting from the purported liquor fraud.

Sanjay Singh of the AAP gets bail

After a panel of Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Dipankar Datta, and Prasanna B. Varale declared that Mr. Singh might be discharged while the trial was pending, such relief was ultimately provided this afternoon.

The trial court will determine the terms and circumstances of the release, according to the court. The fact that Mr. Singh is able to engage in political activities—that is, run for office and support the AAP, which may be shorthanded in well-known leaders in the run-up to the elections—is noteworthy, though.

He has been advised not to discuss the probe, though.

The court further declared that precedent in comparable circumstances could not be applied to the bail.

Atishi, a colleague and Delhi PWD Minister, expressed happiness at Mr. Singh's release by posting on X (formerly Twitter) with the message "satyameva jayate," or "the truth will win." Since Chief Minister Kejriwal's detention, Atishi has spearheaded the AAP's resistance and claims of innocence.

She asserted this morning that if she and the other four AAP leaders do not join the Bharatiya Janata Party, they will be arrested by central agents in relation to the alleged liquor policy scandal. The opposition has often charged the BJP with targeting opponents with the help of federal agencies, especially in the run-up to an election. Similarly consistently, the BJP has refuted the accusations.

What Is the Alleged Scam of Delhi Liquor Policy?

The Enforcement Directorate asserts that the now-repeated spirits policy gave retailers an unconscionably large profit margin of 185% and wholesalers a profit margin of 12%. Six percent of the latter, or more than ₹ 600 crore, were bribes, and it is said that the AAP utilised the funds to finance its election campaigns.

The ED labelled Chief Minister Kejriwal the "kingpin" of this purported fraud, and on March 21 he was taken into custody. Up to April 15, Mr. Kejriwal, who is still in charge of the Delhi administration, is being held in Tihar Jail.

FIIs may boost their position in equity markets in FY25; see top sectors and stock choices.

In FY25, FIIs could invest more in the equity markets; see top stocks and sectors for recommendations.

Foreign institutional investors' (FIIs') inflows are anticipated to remain high in the fiscal year 2025 due to the economy's strong growth and the pace of profits development. Global investors had previously invested Rs 1.21 lakh crore in the loan market and Rs 2.08 lakh crore in the domestic stock market in FY24. As a consequence, the BSE Sensex, the benchmark stock index, increased by about 25% in the 12 months leading up to March 2024, while the BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap, two broader indexes, increased by 63% and 60%, respectively.

In the meantime, domestic equities market foreign portfolio investment (FPI) holdings fell to a decadal low of 16.6% in 2023, mostly as a result of a selloff brought on by portfolio underperformance and an increase in US bond rates. Alchemy Capital Management's Head Quant and Portfolio Manager, Alok Agarwal, stated: "FPI inflows in FY24 remained robust, indicating continued foreign investor confidence in the Indian market, even with the decline." Furthermore, domestic mutual funds and direct retail investors have significantly increased their free float ownership of NSE-listed companies, thereby reducing the influence of FPI flows. This has helped to counterbalance the impact of FPI outflows. The rise of retail investors in the domestic stock market has also been instrumental in this regard.

According to him, India is one of the few major economies that has double-digit growth in nominal GDP, double-digit increase in corporate profitability, and double-digit return on equity. "We anticipate sustained strong foreign direct investment (FDI) flows and their subsequent escalation in their market share in India," stated Agarwal.

As of March 15, 2024, FIIs held assets in the Indian financial services industry valued at Rs 18.29 lakh crore. According to NSDL statistics, information technology came in second at Rs. 6.45 lakh crore, followed by oil, gas and consumable fuels at Rs. 5.80 lakh crore, automobiles and auto components at Rs. 4.39 lakh crore, FMCG at Rs. 4.11 lakh crore, healthcare at Rs. 3.62 lakh crore and capital goods at Rs. 2.85 lakh crore.

Geojit Financial Services' chief investment strategist, VK Vijayakumar

"The FPIs were compelled to remain buyers in India due to the robustness of the Indian stock market and the improving macroeconomic conditions in the country. It's likely that this tendency will continue.

"With a consistent flow from domestic institutional investors (DII) and now if steady FII participation resumes, there is potential for India to surpass a 20% weighting in the MSCI EM Index by the second half of 2024 itself," Nuvama Institutional Equities stated in expressing its opinion on the strong inflows of institutional investors.

As of December 2023, FIIs owned a 71.93% holding in CarTrade Tech and a 64.42% investment in Samhi Hotels, according to data provided by Ace Equity. Additionally, they owned 62.71% of Delhivery and 63.72% of Paytm. Additionally, more than 50% of shares in a number of other businesses, including 360 One Wam, Redington, Zomato, Axis Bank, Five-Star Business Finance, Shriram Finance, HDFC Bank, and Max Financial Services, were owned by foreign investors.