A Delhi court on Friday acquitted former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in the high-profile liquor policy case, ruling that investigative agencies failed to present sufficient evidence to proceed with prosecution. The special court also discharged all other accused named in the case.
Court Rejects CBI Chargesheet
While delivering the order, the special judge stated that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) failed to establish a prima facie case against the accused. According to the court, the thousands of pages submitted in the chargesheet did not provide material evidence supporting witness statements.
The judge observed that the prosecution failed to present concrete proof against Kejriwal and did not establish sufficient grounds to frame charges against Sisodia. The court declined to take cognizance of the CBI’s chargesheet, citing the absence of substantive supporting material.
Background of the Case
The case relates to Delhi’s now-scrapped excise policy. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) initially arrested Kejriwal while he was serving as Chief Minister. In 2022, the CBI filed its first chargesheet, followed by supplementary chargesheets.
Investigators had alleged that ₹100 crore was received from business groups in exchange for modifying the liquor policy in their favor. A total of 23 individuals, including Kejriwal and Sisodia, were arrested in connection with the case. All have now been discharged.
Reaction and Other Accused
Speaking to reporters after the verdict, Kejriwal said the court’s decision had affirmed that he and Sisodia were honest. He alleged that they were jailed for six months as part of a political conspiracy by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Those named in the chargesheet included K. Kavitha, Kuldeep Singh, Narendra Singh, Vijay Nair, Abhishek Boinpally, Arun Ramchandra Pillai, Mutha Gautam, Sameer Mahendru, Amandeep Singh Dhall, Arjun Pandey, Buchi Babu 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 Chandra Reddy. All have been granted relief under the court’s order.
