New Delhi [India], February 27 (HBTV): The Rouse Avenue Court on Friday discharged former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in the Delhi Excise Policy case.
The court observed that the alleged central conspiratorial role could not be substantiated.
It noted that the allegations ‘failed judicial scrutiny’ and found ‘no criminal intent’ on the part of Manish Sisodia. The court further stated that the conspiracy theory ‘cannot survive against one constitutional authority’.
Expressing her reaction to the verdict, Sunita Kejriwal, wife of Arvind Kejriwal, posted, ‘In this world, no matter how powerful one becomes, one cannot rise above Shiva Shakti. Truth always prevails.’
The CBI filed its first chargesheet in 2022, followed by multiple supplementary chargesheets. The agency alleged that INR 100 crore was paid by a ‘south lobby’ to influence the now-scrapped excise policy in its favour.
In total, 23 accused were chargesheeted, including Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, K Kavitha, Kuldeep Singh, Narender Singh, Vijay Nair, Abhishek Boinpally, Arun Ramchandra Pillai, Mootha Goutam, Sameer Mahendru, Amandeep Singh Dhall, Arjun Pandey, Butchibabu 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 Chadra Reddy.
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. Represented by Additional Solicitor General D P Singh and advocate Manu Mishra, the agency argued that there was adequate material to frame charges against all the accused.
Senior advocate N Hariharan, appearing for Kejriwal, contended that there was no incriminating material linking his client to the alleged conspiracy. He argued that the fourth supplementary chargesheet naming Kejriwal merely repackaged earlier allegations and that Kejriwal was performing his official duties as Chief Minister.
Hariharan further submitted that Kejriwal was not named in the initial chargesheet or in three earlier supplementary chargesheets, and that his name appeared only in the fourth. The defence also questioned the basis of further investigation and the evidentiary value of statements, including that of approver Raghav Magunta.
(ANI)