A Delhi court on Friday discharged all 23 accused in the Delhi excise policy case including former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Telangana Jagruthi president K Kavitha. Special Judge Jitendra Singh of the Rouse Avenue Courts refused to take cognisance of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) chargesheet in the corruption case linked to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy.
The CBI has been probing alleged corruption in the formulation and execution of the erstwhile-AAP government's now-scrapped excise policy.
What did the court say?
The court said that the chargesheet had several lacunae not supported by evidence.
Pulling up the CBI for a faulty probe, the court said the chargesheet suffered from multiple lacunae and was not backed by any credible witness statements or documentary evidence. "Sometimes when you read a lot of files, the file starts talking to you," the judge remarked, adding that Kejriwal had been implicated "without any cogent material" and that the agency failed to establish even a basic case against Sisodia.
The court also expressed strong displeasure over the prosecution's conduct, noting that despite repeated demands, key confessional statements were not supplied along with the chargesheet. When the CBI said details were provided in a sealed envelope, the judge said he expected greater transparency and honesty from the agency’s counsel. "All citizens in the country have the right to a fair trial," the court emphasised.
"There was no overarching conspiracy or criminal intent in the excise policy," the Court ruled.
Taking objection to the terminology used in the chargesheet, the judge questioned the repeated reference to a so-called "South Group," observing that such labelling was inappropriate and prejudicial. "If the same chargesheet were filed in Chennai, would you still write 'South Group'?" the court asked, citing international precedents where cases were rejected due to similar terminology. The judge concluded that the phrase should not have been used.
The court further noted that several documents submitted by the CBI did not match the allegations made in the chargesheet.
Major decision on Delhi's excise policy
The court found no evidence of any fraud in the excise policy.
It also failed to prove that there was any irregularity or tampering with the 2021–22 policy.
There was no evidence that the policy was changed to unfairly benefit anyone.
The court stated that this policy of the Aam Aadmi Party government was formulated after consultation with all stakeholders and following the legal process.
The documents clearly show that the entire policy-making process was correct and in accordance with the rules.
Overall, the court stated that the policy formulation was correct and no evidence of irregularities was found.
Here's the order copy
Who all have been cleared by court?
- Arvind Kejriwal
- Manish Sisodia
- Kavitha Kalvakuntal alias K Kavitha
- Kuldeep Singh
- Narender Singh
- Vijay Nair
- Abhishek Boinpally
- Arun Ramchandra Pillai
- Mootha Goutam
- Sameer Mahendru
- Amandeep Singh Dhall
- Arjun Pandey
- Butchibabu Gorantla
- Rajesh Joshi
- Damodar Prasad Sharma
- Prince Kumar
- Arvind Kumar Singh
- Chanpreet Singh Rayat
- Durgesh Pathak
- Amit Arora
- Vinod Chauhan
- Ashish Chand Mathur
- Sarath Chandra Reddy
Also Read: Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, K Kavitha cleared of all charges in Delhi excise policy case
Also Read: 'Sach ki humesha jeet hogi': Sunita Kejriwal as Delhi Court clears Arvind Kejriwal in excise policy
