Delhi High Court Grants Time To Kejriwal, Sisodia In CBI Excise Policy Case

A Bench led by Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma allowed Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia additional time to place their responses on record in connection with the revision petition filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The court also stated that the interim directions issued earlier in the case would remain effective.

The Central Bureau of Investigation has approached the Delhi High Court questioning the ruling of the Rouse Avenue Court, which had cleared all 23 accused in the corruption case tied to the now-withdrawn excise policy implemented by the AAP government in Delhi.

During the proceedings, senior advocate N Hariharan, representing Kejriwal, informed the court that the former Delhi Chief Minister had filed a Special Leave Petition before the Supreme Court of India.

The petition challenges the High Court’s earlier decision that stayed certain remarks made by the trial court against a CBI officer who handled the investigation.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CBI, argued that the trial court’s decision to discharge the accused lacked justification. He urged the High Court to review the entire case record and maintained that the order should not remain on record.

The trial court delivered a detailed verdict on February 27 and discharged all the accused, stating that the available material indicated the excise policy emerged from a consultative process and did not establish a broader conspiracy.

However, the Central Bureau of Investigation has argued before the High Court that the discharge order was legally unsound and effectively amounted to an acquittal without trial.

The agency alleges that the policy was manipulated to provide benefits to select liquor traders in return for alleged kickbacks.