Excise policy case: Delhi court closes CBI case against Kejriwal, 22 others

A Delhi court on Friday cleared all 23 accused in the Delhi excise policy case, including former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Telangana Jagruthi president K Kavitha, Bar and Bench reported.

Special Judge (PC Act) Jitendra Singh passed the order, bringing to an end the case filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

In its ruling, the court said there was no material to show any criminal conspiracy behind the excise policy. "There was no overarching conspiracy or criminal intent in the excise policy," the court ruled.

The judge said the prosecution’s case could not stand legal scrutiny. According to the court, the CBI tried to build a theory of conspiracy based largely on assumptions. The court said no prima facie case was made out against any of the 23 accused, the news report said.

CBI criticised for relying on approvers

The court also criticised the CBI for depending heavily on statements made by approvers. "If such conduct is allowed, it would be a grave violation of the Constitutional principles. The conduct where an accused is granted pardon and then made an approver, his statements used to fill the gaps in the investigation/narrative and make additional people accused is wrong," the judge said.

The court further stated that it would recommend a departmental inquiry against CBI officials for making Kuldeep Singh the main accused in the case.

Who were the accused?

The CBI had filed a charge sheet against the following 23 people:

Kuldeep Singh, Narender Singh, Vijay Nair, Abhishek Boinpally, Arun Ramchandra Pillai, Mootha Goutam, Sameer Mahendru, Manish Sisodia, Amandeep Singh Dhall, Arjun Pandey, Butchibabu Gorantla, Rajesh Joshi, Damodar Prasad Sharma, Prince Kumar, Arvind Kumar Singh, Chanpreet Singh Rayat, Kavitha Kalvakuntal (K Kavitha), Arvind Kejriwal, Durgesh Pathak, Amit Arora, Vinod Chauhan, Ashish Chand Mathur and Sarath Chandra Reddy.

Background of the case

The case began in 2022 after the CBI registered an FIR. The agency alleged that the Delhi Excise Policy for 2021-22 was changed to benefit certain liquor traders and create monopoly and cartel-like control over the market.

The FIR was filed following a complaint by Lieutenant-Governor V K Saxena on July 20, 2022.

The CBI claimed that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and some of its leaders received kickbacks from liquor manufacturers due to changes made in the policy. Later, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) also registered a money laundering case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Several opposition leaders were arrested during the investigation. Some political parties described the arrests as politically motivated.

According to the allegations, AAP leaders, including Sisodia and Kejriwal, along with other private individuals and entities, were involved in a criminal conspiracy while framing the policy. It was claimed that certain loopholes were deliberately left in the policy to favour select licence holders after the tender process.

Many of the accused spent months in jail after being denied bail by the Rouse Avenue Court and the Delhi High Court. Later, the Supreme Court granted them relief.

Kejriwal calls case ‘biggest political conspiracy’

Kejriwal on Friday said the corruption case against him was the “biggest political conspiracy” since India became independent.

"The court has proved that Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and the AAP are 'kattar imaandar'," he said.

Kejriwal claimed the excise case was planned to politically target and weaken the AAP. "It was entirely a fake case with the roles of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah behind its fabrication," he added.