Delhi court discharges Kejriwal, Sisodia in excise case; rejects CBI chargesheet

A Delhi court on Friday discharged former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, his former deputy Manish Sisodia, and 21 others in the excise policy-related corruption case, refusing to take cognisance of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) chargesheet.

Special Judge Jitendra Singh said the chargesheet contained several lacunae and was not supported by adequate evidence to proceed with trial. He observed that the material placed on record failed to establish sufficient grounds for prosecution in the case linked to the now-scrapped excise policy of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government.

The judge underlined “some misleading averments” in the chargesheet and said that the voluminous document was not corroborated by evidence or witnesses. “The chargesheet suffers from internal contradictions, striking at the root of conspiracy theory,” Judge Singh said.

He further noted that in the absence of any evidence, the allegations against Kejriwal could not be sustained and that the former chief minister had been implicated without any cogent evidence, which he said was inconsistent with the rule of law.

Regarding Sisodia, the court said there was no material on record indicating his involvement in the alleged offence, and no recovery had been made from him.

The CBI had been probing alleged irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the Delhi government’s excise policy, which was later withdrawn amid political controversy and multiple investigations.

Reacting to the court’s decision, Kejriwal described the case as the “biggest political conspiracy in the history of independent India.” He said the order vindicated him and his party, adding that it proved the Aam Aadmi Party’s claim of being “kattar imaandar” (completely honest).