Kejriwal, Sisodia among 23 accused discharged by Delhi court in excise policy ‘scam’ case

A Delhi court on Friday discharged all 23 accused in the CBI’s excise policy case, including former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, both leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Following the ruling, Kejriwal appeared emotional while addressing reporters, asserting his innocence. “I am not corrupt. The court has said that Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia are honest,” he said, breaking down in tears. He described the excise case as the “biggest political conspiracy in the history of Independent India.”

The order was passed by Special Judge Jitendra Singh, who said the court found no material to support the prosecution’s claims. The court also refused to take cognisance of the chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the alleged liquor policy corruption case.

Kejriwal and Sisodia were arrested during the CBI’s probe into alleged irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy introduced by the AAP government. Both were in office as chief minister and deputy chief minister, respectively, at the time of their arrests.

Reacting to the verdict, Kejriwal said the court’s decision proved that he and his party were “kattar imaandar” (completely honest).

In January, a Delhi court had also acquitted Kejriwal in two cases filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which accused him of skipping summons related to its parallel investigation into the excise policy matter.

The CBI had filed its first chargesheet in 2022, followed by several supplementary chargesheets. The agency alleged that a “south lobby” paid ₹100 crore to influence the now-withdrawn excise policy in its favour. In total, 23 individuals were named as accused in the case, according to news agency ANI.