The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed an appeal in the Delhi High Court just hours after a special Ross Avenue court on Friday acquitted former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal among 23 accused in a case of alleged corruption in tax policy or liquor contracts during his tenure. The SC will set a date for the appeal hearing, but for Kejriwal today was a dream.
He was crying shortly after the discharge order was issued. “I am not corrupt. major Katar Imandar Hon “I’m completely honest,” he said while crying, then arrived at his residence, where the family welcomed him with hugs.
He was also discharged, and with him was Manish Sisodia, the former deputy chief minister and considered Kejriwal’s main man since their active days.
From his home to the party office some distance away, Kejriwal was in a car as part of the procession. He emerged from the sunroof, waving through a shower of flower petals; Someone handed him a ‘gada’ (mace), and there were brass bands playing – a scene that shows how much AAP and Kejriwal have won.
In a press conference, Kejriwal launched a direct attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, saying the case showed how the RBI and other central agencies like the ED were being used as a weapon by the BJP regime against opposition leaders.
He also pointed out that the BJP came to power in last year’s Delhi Assembly elections, after filing the case to “tarnish our reputation”.
“I am challenging Prime Minister Modi in fresh elections in Delhi and if the BJP wins more than 10 seats, I will quit politics,” he said.
The last Delhi Assembly elections, which the BJP won by defeating the AAP which had been in power for more than 10 years, were held in February 2025. The BJP won 48 of the 70 seats, returning to power in the National Capital Territory after 27 years.
The AAP collapsed from 62 seats in 2020 to just 22, and Arvind Kejriwal lost his seat in his New Delhi constituency — a deeply symbolic blow for a man who built his entire political identity around clean governance.
“The people of Delhi have already punished Kejriwal,” BJP MP Manoj Tiwari said. Referring to the next step the CBI will take, he said: “The judicial process will take its course while we file the appeal.”
But Kejriwal found support for his demand for fresh elections from another prominent opposition leader, Tejashwi Yadav of the RJD in Bihar.
“False lawsuits are being filed against opposition leaders. Arvind Kejriwal has suffered a lot because of this (case). We demand that elections be held again in Delhi,” Yadav told reporters in Patna.
Delhi elections 2025: Shadow of a ‘scam’
The recent elections in Delhi took place amid the issue of Delhi’s liquor policy. Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in March 2024, accused of being part of a conspiracy in which AAP’s Excise Policy 2021-22 was allegedly designed to favor some liquor dealers in exchange for bribes.
He spent about five months in Tihar Jail before the Supreme Court granted him bail in September 2024. After his release, he resigned from the post of chief minister. Atishi became chairman of the board, but kept the chair vacant in a symbolic gesture.
Kejriwal portrayed his resignation as a moral gesture, saying he would regain the presidency only if voters in Delhi gave him a new term. They didn’t.
His deputy, Manish Sisodia, had been arrested before, in February 2023, in the same case, and spent 17 months in prison before being granted bail in August 2024.
Therefore, by the time polling day arrived in February 2025, the most prominent faces of the AKP were either in prison, newly released on bail, or still accused of corruption. These allegations were particularly damaging because fighting corruption was the stated reason for establishing the AAP at all in 2012.
Nearly a year later, on February 27, 2026, Kejriwal obtained a discharge order from the Ross Avenue court.
Read also | Court criticizes CBI’s use of ‘South’ tag in case against Kejriwal, Kavitha; He cites the example of “Dominican drug traffickers” from the United States
“Since coming to power, the BJP has thrown Delhi into chaos due to problems like air pollution, the Yamuna River, and damaged roads,” he said in his press conference, speaking in Hindi.
He added that the court issued a historic ruling, adding that the judge showed “tremendous courage” in issuing the order in light of “the current circumstances where all institutions are under attack.”
However, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said: “The court has admitted the lack of evidence and the investigating agency has repeatedly stated that Kejriwal and Sisodia destroyed the evidence.”
Sachdeva said the AAP Supreme Court still does not have answers on the key issues that the CBI will address in its appeal. “I firmly believe that Arvind Kejriwal is corrupt,” he added.
Where does the issue stand now?
CBI officials told news agencies that in their appeal against the dismissal, they referred to points that were “ignored” or were not taken into account at the level of filing charges by the Ross Avenue court.
In this order, Special Judge Jitendra Singh found no merit in the CBI’s contention that Kejriwal was a “central figure” who manipulated the policy that was later scrapped in favor of the so-called “South group”.
The prosecution seeks to link accused 18 (Kejriwal) based mainly on one sentence in the witness statement, namely prosecution witness 225 Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy: “After that, he told me that K Kavitha, daughter of K Chandrashekar Rao, the then Chief Minister of Telangana, would contact me in this regard.”
However, after taking into account the evidence before it, the court said that there was no relevant document, file memorandum, electronic communication, financial transaction or digital evidence to directly or indirectly link Kejriwal to any alleged policy manipulation or illegal gratification. She added, “The attempt to implicate him is based on an inference drawn from an unconfirmed statement that resembles the accomplice.”
