Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal walked out of Tihar jail to a hero’s welcome on Friday evening, hours after the Supreme Court gave him interim bail to allow him to campaign for the general election.

Kejriwal’s release comes with conditions: he must surrender by June 2, cannot visit the Delhi secretariat or the chief minister’s office, and must not sign any official file unless it is “necessary for obtaining clearance/ approval of the lieutenant governor of Delhi”.

Freed after 50 days behind bars under trial for corruption, the Aam Aadmi Party convener stood on a car, wearing a dark T-shirt, and addressed hundreds of party workers.

“First of all, I want to worship at the feet of Hanumanji. By his blessings I am in your midst,” he said, thanking people for their prayers and the judges.

He asked people to worship with him at the Hanuman temple at Connaught Place on Saturday morning.

Messages of support from allies Trinamool, CPM, Congress and the JMM poured in.

Kejriwal is likely to address a news conference at his party headquarters on Saturday afternoon, and will possibly hold a road show in south Delhi with Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann in the evening.

The apex court has put restrictions on what Kejriwal can say: he will not “make any comment with regard to his role in the present case”. Nor can he “interact with any of the witnesses and/ or have access to any official files connected with the case”.

“We direct that the appellant — Arvind Kejriwal — will be released on interim bail… till 1st of June 2024, that is, he will surrender on 2nd of June 2024…,” the bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta said.

The bench rejected the Enforcement Directorate’s argument that if a jailed politician is to be freed to campaign, other imprisoned people too have a right to be released to practise their profession.

“General Elections supply the vis viva (driving force) to a democracy. Given the prodigious importance, we reject the argument raised on behalf of the prosecution that grant of interim bail/ release on this account would be giving premium of placing the politicians in a beneficial position compared to ordinary citizens of this country,” the court said.

“While examining the question of grant of interim bail/ release, the courts always take into consideration the peculiarities associated with the person in question and the surrounding circumstances. In fact, to ignore the same would be iniquitous and wrong.”

It added: “No doubt, serious accusations have been made, but he has not been convicted. He does not have any criminal antecedents. He is not a threat to society. The investigation in the present case has remained pending since August 2022.

“More importantly, legality and validity of the arrest itself is under challenge before this court and we are yet to finally pronounce on the same. The fact situation cannot be compared with harvesting of crops or plea to look after business affairs.”

Kejriwal has challenged in the apex court the concurrent orders passed by the trial court and Delhi High Court upholding his March 21 arrest. He is accused in a money-laundering case allegedly linked to his government’s now-scrapped excise policy.

Amid the celebrations with drums and firecrackers at the party office and Kejriwal’s residence, AAP leaders pondered how his re-entry into their lives would change the game.

In Kejriwal’s absence, MP Sandeep Pathak had taken over the party reins while fellow MP Sanjay Singh focused on electioneering. Kejriwal’s wife Sunita has been projected as moral head of the “AAP family”.

“There are broadly three questions Arvindji will decide, probably within a day. One, to what extent he will campaign for Congress candidates in Delhi beyond the customary meetings. The Congress has not been effectively supporting us in Kurukshetra (where former AAP parliamentarian Sushil Gupta is the INDIA candidate),” a party leader told The Telegraph.

“Two, many of our allies want him to campaign in their states. How much should he campaign outside, and how much will he campaign in Punjab — which will have to be anti-Congress?

“Three, what will the roles of Sunitaji, Sanjayji and Sandeepji be? Arvindji will have to return to jail next month, so a permanent set-up must be put in place....”

Mamata Banerjee tweeted that Kejriwal’s interim bail “will be very helpful in the context of the current elections”.

The CPM politburo said the court had “foiled the very purpose of arresting Kejriwal”, which it said was “to prevent him from participating in the campaign for the Lok Sabha polls”.

Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera welcomed the court decision and hoped that former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren of the JMM too received “due justice”.

Soren’s wife Kalpana Murmu congratulated Kejriwal.