Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia Amongst 23 Others Discharged By Delhi Court In Excise Policy Scam

A Delhi court on Friday discharged all 23 accused, including former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia, in a sweeping setback to the prosecution in the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.

The order was delivered by Special Judge Jitender Singh of the Rouse Avenue Courts, who ruled that the prosecution had failed to establish even a prima facie case against the accused.

Among those discharged were Kuldeep Singh, Narender Singh, Vijay Nair, Abhishek Boinpally, Arun Pillai, Mootha Gautam, Sameer Mahendru, Manish Sisodia, Amandeep Singh Dhall, Arjun Pandey, Butchibabu Gorantla, Rajesh Joshi, Damodar Prasad Sharma, Prince Kumar, Arvind Kumar Singh, Chanpreet Singh, K Kavitha, Arvind Kejriwal, Durgesh Pathak, Amit Arora, Vinod Chauhan, Ashish Chand Mathur and Sarath Reddy.

The controversy stems from the Delhi government’s 2021 excise policy, introduced with the stated objective of increasing revenue and reforming the liquor trade. The policy proposed complete privatisation of liquor sales in the national capital. However, it was later withdrawn after allegations surfaced regarding irregularities in its implementation.

Delhi’s Lieutenant-Governor Vinay Kumar Saxena subsequently ordered a CBI investigation into the matter.

Both the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate had alleged that the policy was manipulated to confer undue benefits upon private entities at the expense of the public exchequer and that it was tainted by corruption.

In sharply worded observations on Friday (February 27), the court criticised the CBI for serious investigative lapses. It noted that the “voluminous chargesheet” contained multiple gaps and deficiencies, with several claims unsupported by witness testimony or documentary evidence.

The judge further flagged “misleading averments” in the chargesheet and pointed out internal inconsistencies that undermined the alleged conspiracy theory at its core.

The court concluded that the agency failed to establish a prima facie case against Sisodia. It emphasised that there was no evidence demonstrating his involvement in either the formulation or implementation of the excise policy, nor was there any recovery linking him to alleged wrongdoing.

As for Kejriwal, the court observed that he had been implicated without any cogent material. It held that attributing a role to him in the alleged conspiracy, in the absence of foundational evidence or witness statements, could not be sustained, particularly given that he occupies a constitutional office.

While discharging Kuldeep Singh, who had been named as the primary accused, the judge remarked that it was surprising he had been listed first when there was absolutely no material against him.

The court also ordered a departmental inquiry against the CBI’s Investigating Officer, signalling serious concern over the manner in which the probe was conducted.

Sisodia remained incarcerated for approximately 530 days in connection with the case. Kejriwal, meanwhile, spent around 156 days in jail across two separate periods before being granted relief.

(with inputs from LiveLaw)