Delhi liquor policy case: Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia cleared of all charges

Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia

A Delhi court on Friday cleared Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal and former Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia of all charges in Delhi liquor policy case.

Refusing to take cognisance of the CBI chargesheet in a corruption case linked to the alleged excise policy scam, the court said the chargesheet had several lacunae not supported by evidence. Special Judge Jitendra Singh discharged Kejriwal, Sisodia and 21 others in the case.

Breaking down after being discharged in the case by Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court, Kejriwal said, "I am not corrupt. The court has said that Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia are honest".

He accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah of hatching the biggest political conspiracy of independent India. "We always said that the truth emerges victorious. Amit Shah and Modi ji together hatched the biggest political conspiracy to finish AAP and five big leaders of the party were put in jail. The sitting CM was dragged out of his house and put in jail. Kejriwal is not corrupt. I have only earned honesty in my life," he added.

Sisodia too hailed the verdict and said that truth has emerged victorious. "Satyamev Jayate. Today, once again, I feel proud of Baba Saheb Ambedkar ji's visionary thinking and the Constitution he crafted. Despite all the attempts by Modi ji's entire party and all their agencies to prove us dishonest, today it has been proven that Arvind Kejriwal - Manish Sisodia are staunchly honest," he said.

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.

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.