India's top court releases New Delhi's chief minister on bail after 6 months in jail

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s top court on Friday freed on bail Arvind Kejriwal, a prominent opposition leader and chief minister of New Delhi, who was arrested nearly six months ago ahead of national elections on charges of receiving bribes from a liquor distributor.

Supreme Court Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan granted him bail because his trial is expected to take time.

Kejriwal is the leader of the Aam Aadmi Party, or Common Man’s Party, which governs New Delhi. He is one of India's most influential politicians of the past decade and a fierce critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Kejriwal was initially arrested in March, weeks before the national elections. He denied the accusations and called them a political conspiracy.

Kejriwal waved to supporters and briefly addressed them from his car after leaving the Tihar prison in the Indian capital. His supporters lit firecrackers and danced in the rain outside the prison and his New Delhi residence.

Many supporters carried placards with images of Kejriwal, waving yellow and blue satin party flags to greet him.

“The government thought that it would weaken my resolve by putting me in prison. I have emerged much more potent than before. The court has upheld my honesty,” he said.

Two other top AAP leaders, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh, who were also arrested in the case, have already been freed on bail by the court.

On Friday, Justice Bhuyan questioned the necessity and timing of Kejriwal’s arrest before the country’s national elections and said his further detention was wholly untenable.

Leaders of Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party cautioned Kejriwal’s supporters that their leader has been released on bail and not acquitted in the corruption case.

Manoj Tiwari, a BJP lawmaker, demanded Kejriwal’s resignation as Delhi chief minister after the court imposed some conditions on his bail application. He will not be allowed to meet witnesses in the case or visit his office, and some of his decisions as chief minister must be approved by the capital’s governor.

Kejriwal's party is part of a broad alliance of opposition parties called INDIA which was the main challenger to Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party in the elections, which concluded in June.

Opposition parties widely condemned Kejriwal’s arrest as a move by Modi's government against its opponents. They accused the government of misusing federal investigation agencies to harass and weaken its political opponents. They pointed to several raids, arrests, and corruption investigations of key opposition figures in the months before the elections.

Kejriwal was released temporarily on bail in May to allow him to campaign in the elections before returning to jail on June 2. The Supreme Court granted him interim bail in July, but he was rearrested by another government agency, blocking his release. The court granted him bail in that case on Friday.

The government agencies accused Kejriwal’s party and ministers of accepting 1 billion rupees ($12 million) in bribes from a liquor distributor nearly two years ago in return for revising a liquor sales policy in New Delhi, allowing private companies greater profits.

Kejriwal's release will boost his party, which faces new elections in New Delhi by February next year.

Kejriwal, a former civil servant, launched the Aam Aadmi Party in 2012. He promised to rid the Indian political system and governance of corruption and inefficiency.

The party’s symbol — a broom — and its promise to sweep the administration of graft struck a chord with New Delhi’s residents, fed up with runaway inflation and slow economic growth.

Aam Aadmi Party leader and Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, speaks to his followers in the rain as he comes out of Tihar prison after being granted bail by the country's highest court, in New Delhi, India, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Aam Aadmi Party leader and Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, speaks to his followers in the rain as he comes out of Tihar prison after being granted bail by the country's highest court, in New Delhi, India, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Aam Aadmi Party leader and Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, speaks to his followers in the rain as he comes out of Tihar prison after being granted bail by the country's highest court, in New Delhi, India, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

Aam Aadmi Party leader and Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, speaks to his followers in the rain as he comes out of Tihar prison after being granted bail by the country's highest court, in New Delhi, India, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)

FILE - Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal speaks at an election rally by Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) in Mumbai, India, on May 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajanish Kakade, File)

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The federal government urged a U.S. District Court judge on Tuesday to temporarily block a proposed merger between Kroger and Albertsons, saying the combination would “almost certainly” benefit shareholders but not everyday shoppers.

Lawyers for the Federal Trade Commission gave their closing arguments at the end of a three-week hearing in Portland, Oregon. The FTC wants U.S. District Judge Adrienne Nelson to issue a preliminary injunction that would block the deal while its complaint goes before an in-house administrative law judge.

Kroger and Albertsons proposed what would be the largest supermarket merger in U.S. history in 2022. The companies insist that the $24.6 billion deal would allow them to lower prices and more effectively compete with retail giants like Walmart and Amazon.

But the FTC says the deal would eliminate competition and lead to higher food prices for already struggling customers. Susan Musser, the Federal Trade Commission’s chief trial counsel, argued Tuesday that Kroger and Albertsons primarily compete with each other and not places like Amazon or Costco, where consumers do other kinds of shopping.

“It’s this local competition, in these local communities, that this merger will eliminate,” Musser said.

In their hearing testimony this month, the CEOs of Albertsons and Kroger said the merged company would lower prices in a bid to retain customers. They also argued that the merger would boost growth, bolstering stores and union jobs.

FTC attorneys have noted that the two supermarket chains currently compete in 22 states, closely matching each other on price, quality, private label products and services like store pickup. Shoppers benefit from that competition and would lose those benefits if the merger is allowed to proceed, they said.

The FTC and labor union leaders also argued that workers’ wages and benefits would decline if Kroger and Albertsons no longer compete with each other. They also expressed concern that potential store closures could create so-called food and pharmacy “deserts” for consumers.

Under the deal, Kroger and Albertsons would sell 579 stores in places where their locations overlap to C&S Wholesale Grocers, a New Hampshire-based supplier to independent supermarkets that also owns the Grand Union and Piggly Wiggly store brands.

The FTC says C&S is ill-prepared to take on those stores. Earlier in the hearing, Laura Hall, the FTC’s senior trial counsel, cited internal documents that indicated C&S executives were skeptical about the quality of the stores they would get and may want the option to sell or close them.

But C&S CEO Eric Winn testified that he thinks his company can be successful in the venture.

The attorneys general of Arizona, California, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon and Wyoming all joined the FTC’s lawsuit on the commission’s side. Washington and Colorado filed separate cases in state courts seeking to block the merger. Washington’s case opened in Seattle on Monday.

Kroger, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, operates 2,800 stores in 35 states, including brands like Ralphs, Smith’s and Harris Teeter. Albertsons, based in Boise, Idaho, operates 2,273 stores in 34 states, including brands like Safeway, Jewel Osco and Shaw’s. Together, the companies employ around 710,000 people.

If Judge Nelson agrees to issue the injunction, the FTC plans to hold the in-house hearings starting Oct. 1. Kroger sued the FTC last month, however, alleging the agency’s internal proceedings are unconstitutional and saying it wants the merger’s merits decided in federal court. That lawsuit was filed in federal court in Ohio.

Durbin reported from Detroit.

The federal courthouse is reflected in the rear window as Albertsons CEO Vivek Sankaran enters a vehicle and leaves after testifying in a federal court hearing on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024, in Portland, Ore. The Federal Trade Commission is seeking a preliminary injunction to block a merger of supermarket companies Albertsons and Kroger. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)