A Delhi court on Friday discharged former Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal in a corruption case linked to the alleged liquor policy scam.

Special Judge Jitendra Singh of the Rouse Avenue Courts also discharged senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia in the same case.

The court discharged all 23 accused persons in the matter, including Kuldeep Singh, Narender Singh, Vijay Nair, Abhishek Boinpally, Arun Pillai, Mootha Gautam, Sameer Mahendru, Amandeep Singh Dhall, Arjun Pandey, Butchibabu Gorantla, Rajesh Joshi, Damodar Prasad Sharma, Prince Kumar, Arvind Kumar Singh, Chanpreet Singh, K Kavitha, Durgesh Pathak, Amit Arora, Vinod Chauhan, Ashish Chand Mathur, and Sarath Reddy.

In sharp remarks, the court pulled up the Central Bureau of Investigation for serious lapses in its investigation, observing that the “voluminous chargesheet” was riddled with shortcomings and was not backed by any credible witness statements.

The court held that the CBI had failed to establish even a prima facie case against Manish Sisodia and noted that Arvind Kejriwal had been implicated without any cogent or substantive material. While delivering the verdict, the judge pointed out that the chargesheet—running into thousands of pages—contained material that did not support the prosecution’s own witnesses and included what were described as “misleading averments.”

The court observed that the chargesheet suffered from serious lacunae and was not supported by any witness testimony or material evidence.

While discharging the primary accused, Kuldeep Singh, the judge remarked that it was surprising he had been named as the first accused despite there being absolutely no material on record against him.

As regards Manish Sisodia, who was alleged to have played a key role in the formulation and implementation of the liquor policy, the court held that there was no evidence to establish his involvement, nor was there any recovery linking him to the alleged offence.

The court held that the chargesheet was riddled with internal contradictions, which, it said, strike at the very foundation of the prosecution’s alleged conspiracy theory.

With respect to Arvind Kejriwal, the judge observed that he had been implicated without any cogent material—an approach inconsistent with the rule of law, particularly when it involves a person holding a constitutional office.

The court further noted that in the absence of any foundational material, witness statements, or supporting evidence, the attempt to attribute Kejriwal’s role in the alleged conspiracy could not be sustained.

The court also directed that a departmental inquiry be initiated against the investigating officer of the Central Bureau of Investigation.

By way of background, Manish Sisodia spent around 530 days in custody, while Arvind Kejriwal remained in jail for about 156 days across two spells. Kejriwal was finally released on September 13, 2024, after the Supreme Court of India granted him bail in the CBI case, following interim bail in the Enforcement Directorate matter.

Senior Advocate Rebecca M John, along with Advocate Vivek Jain, appeared for Sisodia, while Senior Advocate N Hariharan and Advocate Mudit Jain represented Kejriwal. Advocate Sumer Singh Boparai appeared for Abhishek Boinpally.

The excise policy, framed by the Delhi government in 2021 to boost revenue and reform the liquor trade, was later withdrawn amid allegations of irregularities in its implementation. Acting on these allegations, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinay Kumar Saxena ordered a CBI probe.

According to the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate, the policy—which aimed to fully privatise liquor trade in the national capital—was allegedly used to grant undue benefits to private entities at the cost of the public exchequer and was tainted by corruption. Sisodia was first arrested by the CBI on February 26, 2023, and subsequently by the ED on March 9, 2023. The CBI alleged that he and others played a key role in recommending and taking decisions on the 2021–22 excise policy without approval of the competent authority, with the intent to extend undue favours to licensees after the tender process.

The agency further claimed that Sisodia was arrested for giving evasive replies and not cooperating with the investigation despite being confronted with evidence. Kejriwal was formally arrested by the CBI on June 26, 2024, while he was already in ED custody in the money laundering case linked to the alleged liquor policy scam.