Delhi Court Drops Charges Against Kejriwal, Sisodia, K Kavitha in Excise Policy Case
Top AAP Leaders Get Clean Chit as CBI Chargesheet Rejected
New Delhi, Feb 27 – In a major relief to Aam Aadmi Party leaders, a Delhi court on Friday discharged former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, ex-deputy Manish Sisodia, Telangana Jagruthi president K Kavitha, and 21 others in the politically sensitive liquor policy case, refusing to take cognisance of the CBI’s chargesheet against them.
Judge Cites Lack of Evidence and Investigation Lapses
Special Judge Jitendra Singh sharply criticized the CBI for investigative lapses, noting that there was no substantial evidence against Kejriwal and no prima facie case against Sisodia or the other accused. The CBI had been probing alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped excise policy of the previous AAP government.
The court highlighted “misleading averments” and said the voluminous chargesheet contained multiple contradictions that undermined the conspiracy narrative. “The chargesheet suffers from internal contradictions, striking at the root of the conspiracy theory,” the judge observed, emphasizing that Kejriwal had been implicated without cogent evidence, inconsistent with the rule of law.
For Sisodia, the court noted there was no material indicating his involvement, nor had any recovery been made from him. The ruling underlined the absence of a criminal conspiracy or intent in the excise policy and pointed out that the agency’s attempt to construct a narrative based on conjecture did not withstand judicial scrutiny.
Criticism of Approver-Based Case Building
The court also censured the CBI for relying on approver statements to extend the case to additional accused. “If such conduct is allowed, it would be a grave violation of Constitutional principles. Using statements of an accused granted pardon to implicate others is improper,” the bench said.
Other Accused Cleared
Along with Kejriwal, Sisodia, and Kavitha, the court discharged the following individuals: 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.
The verdict delivers a significant legal relief to top AAP leaders, closing a long-standing chapter in the politically charged excise policy case.
