NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday approached the Delhi High Court challenging the lower court’s order, passed earlier in the day, acquitting 23 accused, including former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, in the Delhi Excise Policy 2022 case.
Earlier this morning, the court released the accused, noting that it did not find any material against the accused to support the prosecution’s evidence. Special Judge Jitinder Singh of the Ross Avenue court said the prosecution’s case suffers from several internal contradictions that strike at the heart of the alleged conspiracy in politics.
In its appeal to the Supreme Court, the agency said that the court ignored several points at the level of filing charges and did not consider them adequately.
Kejriwal, Sisodia and 21 others are facing a CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe for allegedly benefiting private sector players by formulating the now-scraped Liquor Excise Policy 2021-22.
Sisodia was arrested in February 2023 for his alleged role in the conspiracy to introduce the now-abolished tax policy in favor of private sector retailers by increasing commission rates from 5% to 12%, and was granted bail by the Supreme Court in August last year. Kejriwal was arrested by the ED in March, and then by the CBI in June last year; The Supreme Court granted him bail on July 12 last year.
