Delhi Excise Policy case: Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia discharged

A Delhi court discharged former CM Arvind Kejriwal and ex-Deputy CM Manish Sisodia in the Excise Policy case. The court noted the alleged conspiracy could not be substantiated and the allegations "failed judicial scrutiny."

The Rouse Avenue Court on Friday discharged Former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in the Delhi Excise Policy case. The court observed that the alleged central conspiratorial role could not be substantiated. The court noted that the allegations "failed judicial scrutiny" and found "no criminal intent" on the part of Manish Sisodia. It further stated that the conspiracy theory "cannot survive against one constitutional authority."

Expressing her joy at the verdict, Sunita Kejriwal the wife of Arvind posted, "In this world, no matter how powerful one becomes, one cannot rise above Shiva Shakti. Truth always prevails."

CBI's Allegations

The CBI filed its first chargesheet in 2022, followed by multiple supplementary chargesheets. The agency has alleged that Rs 100 crore was paid by a "south lobby" to influence the now-scrapped excise policy in its favour. In total, 23 accused have been chargesheeted, including Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, K Kavitha, Kuldeep Singh, Narender Singh, Vijay Nair, Abhishek Boinpally, Arun Ramchandra Pillai, Mootha Goutam, Sameer Mahendru, Amandeep Singh Dhall, Arjun Pandey, Butchibabu Gornatla, Rakesh Joshi, Damodar Prasad Sharma, Prince Kumar, Chanpreet Singh Rayat, Arvind Kumar Singh, Durgesh Pathak, Amit Arora, Vinod Chauhan, Ashish Mathur, and P Sarath Chadra Reddy.

Arguments in Court

CBI's Stance

During arguments, the CBI maintained that the offence of criminal conspiracy must be viewed in its entirety and that the sufficiency of evidence should be tested during trial. Represented by Additional Solicitor General D P Singh and advocate Manu Mishra, the agency argued that there is adequate material to frame charges against all the accused.

Defence's Contention

On the other hand, senior advocate N Hariharan, appeared for Kejriwal, contended that there is no incriminating material linking his client to the alleged conspiracy. He argued that the fourth supplementary chargesheet naming Kejriwal merely repackages earlier allegations and that Kejriwal was performing his official duties as Chief Minister.

Hariharan further submitted that Kejriwal was not named in the initial chargesheet or in three earlier supplementary chargesheets. His name appeared only in the fourth. The defence also questioned the basis of further investigation and the evidentiary value of statements, including that of approver Raghav Magunta. (ANI)

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