Delhi Court Discharges Kejriwal, Sisodia in Excise Policy Case

A Delhi court has discharged former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, along with 21 other individuals, in a corruption case linked to the city's now-scrapped excise policy. The ruling, delivered on Friday by Special Judge Jitendra Singh at the Rouse Avenue Court, rejected a chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation, citing significant evidentiary shortcomings and a failure to establish a prima facie case.

The decision marks a major setback for the CBI's probe into alleged irregularities in the Aam Aadmi Party government's 2021-22 excise policy, which aimed to reform liquor licensing and sales but was withdrawn amid accusations of favoritism and financial misconduct. The agency had accused Kejriwal and Sisodia of orchestrating a conspiracy that allowed a group of liquor businessmen, referred to as the "South Group," to pay around 100 crore rupees in kickbacks for favorable policy changes, resulting in losses to the public exchequer. The chargesheet, first filed in 2022 and supplemented multiple times, named 23 accused in total, including business figures and AAP associates.

In its order, the court highlighted gaps in...