E-Paper
Clean chit for Kejriwal, Sisodia: Punjab AAP leaders hail verdict
Finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema said the court’s decision revealed the extent of the conspiracy that the BJP orchestrated against the AAP
Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann, cabinet colleagues and several other Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders in the state on Friday hailed the discharge of party supremo and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his ex-deputy Manish Sisodia by a court in the excise policy case as a “victory of truth and justice”.
Mann said the discharge of Kejriwal, Sisodia and others had vindicated the party’s consistent stand that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and other central agencies had been reduced to “mere puppets in the hands of the central government to target political rivals”.
“The case against Arvind Kejriwal and others was a desperate attempt by the Union government to stop the AAP, which was spreading its wings across the country through its agenda of good work,” he claimed in a video message.
He alleged that the court verdict had put a serious question mark on the working of the CBI and exposed the blatant misuse of the central agencies by those in power at the Centre. Mann is in Bengaluru for a week-long naturopathy and wellness treatment.
Celebrations began at the party’s state headquarters in Chandigarh immediately after news of the acquittal of Kejriwal and Sisodia broke. AAP state president Aman Arora and cabinet ministers Harpal Singh Cheema, Hardeep Mundian, Harjot Singh Bains, along with several MLAs and other party leaders, reached the party office. Arora and Mundian were among the party leaders and workers who danced to the beats of the dhol and distributed laddoos to celebrate the verdict.
Addressing a press conference at the party office, Aman Arora said, “Truth may be delayed, but it can never be defeated.”
He said the court verdict had exposed the bundle of lies fabricated by the BJP-led central government through its agencies. “A sitting CM was dragged from his home and put behind the bars. Sisodia was kept in jail for nearly two years. All this was done only to defame them, to crush their political existence and to destroy their growing popularity,” he said, pointing to the strong observations made by the court against the investigating agencies.
Finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema said the court’s decision revealed the extent of the conspiracy that the BJP orchestrated against the AAP. “Through the misuse of the CBI, an attempt was made to put a question mark on AAP’s honesty. Today, it has become clear before the people in the country how these agencies were misused for political purposes,” he claimed, expressing gratitude to AAP workers for standing firmly with the party during difficult times.
Education minister Harjot Singh Bains hailed the verdict as a monumental victory for truth, calling the order a testament to the resilience of the Indian Constitution and the independent judiciary. AAP’s state chief spokesperson and MLA Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said the court’s decision proved that the entire case concocted by the BJP was a “deep-rooted political conspiracy”. He said the bundle of lies built by the Opposition collapsed like a house of cards. AAP’s Rajya Sabha member Rajinder Gupta also welcomed the verdict, calling it a reaffirmation of faith in the rule of law and the strength of India’s judicial institutions. He said the judgment underscored the foundational principle that justice must prevail through due process and evidence.
