Excise Scam: Relief & tears as Delhi court discharges Kejriwal, 20 others

New Delhi, Feb 27:
A Delhi court on Friday discharged former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia and 21 others in the excise policy case that had led to the fall of the AAP government. Among those cleared was K. Kavitha.
Delivering a 598-page judgment, Special Judge Jitendra Singh sharply criticised the CBI, saying the case was “wholly unable to survive judicial scrutiny” and discredited in its entirety. The court found no prima facie case or “grave suspicion” against any of the accused and said the chargesheet suffered from internal contradictions that undermined the alleged conspiracy.
The judge ruled there was no evidence of an overarching conspiracy or criminal intent in the formulation or implementation of the now-scrapped excise policy. He said the investigation appeared to follow a predetermined trajectory, implicating nearly everyone associated with the policy to create an “illusion of depth” to an otherwise fragile narrative.
According to the court, allegations of upfront payments and recoupment of funds – central to the prosecution’s case – stood fundamentally eroded. In the absence of a tainted policy or unlawful implementation, the prosecution’s theory was reduced to conjecture. The judgment noted that the policy was shaped through deliberation, institutional scrutiny and procedural compliance, and even suggestions from the lieutenant governor were sought and incorporated, though not mandatory.
Kejriwal, who spent six months in jail, termed the case the “biggest political conspiracy” in independent India and said the verdict proved that he, Sisodia – jailed for nearly two years – and AAP were “kattar imaandar”. He said they would also seek discharge in related Enforcement Directorate cases.
Within hours, the CBI appealed the order in the Delhi High Court, saying key aspects of the investigation were ignored. The ED maintained its money-laundering probe was a standalone case backed by credible evidence.
Opposition parties reacted strongly. Congress leader Pawan Khera accused the BJP of misusing agencies for political ends, while Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and CPI’s D Raja backed Kejriwal. BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi called the ruling a “technical matter” and said the party would respond after studying the judgment.