Delhi excise policy case: BJP says acquittal not proof of innocence, INDIA bloc hails verdict

BJP's Rekha Gupta claims Kejriwal's acquittal in the excise policy case doesn't equate to innocence, while I.N.D.I.A. leaders celebrate the verdict.

New Delhi

Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia at a press conference after the judgment. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)

Despite the acquittal of former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and 22 others in the Delhi excise policy case, incumbent Rekha Gupta, of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), launched a sharp attack against her predecessor, asserting that “acquittal does not mean a clean chit”.

Addressing mediapersons, Gupta said that while her government respected the judiciary and honoured court orders, the trial court’s verdict citing “lack of evidence” could not be projected as a declaration of complete innocence.

“Insufficient evidence and being fully innocent are two different things. The legal process is not over and the matter can go to the high court,” she said.

Gupta said people of Delhi must not be swayed by “Kejriwal’s crocodile tears” and sought to know why the excise policy was withdrawn soon after the probe began, if it was going to boost the state coffers.

Referring to the CAG’s findings that indicated potential revenue losses, she said public money and trust were at stake. “Bail and acquittal are legal terms. Accountability is a moral responsibility,” Gupta said, adding that higher courts would re-examine the case.

BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said the acquittal was based on a “technical issue” arising from insufficient evidence. “The lower court has acquitted them due to lack of evidence. This is a technical issue because it is also true that hundreds of SIM cards and phones were destroyed as evidence,” he said.

Trivedi said that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is expected to take further action in the matter, possibly by approaching the high court. He also said the BJP would issue a “structured reply” after studying the judgment in detail.

Trivedi also dismissed Kejriwal’s comments, accusing Union home minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being behind the case, as “political in nature”.

“I think if Arvind Kejriwal ji is making political allegations, he is one of the very unprecedented people in India’s political history,” he said, adding, “He is the only leader in India’s history who has apologised after making allegations in the Supreme Court.”

Members of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (I.N.D.I.A.) bloc, meanwhile, hailed the court verdict.

In a post on social media platform X, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said, “Today, in Delhi, both truth and justice stand alongside the esteemed former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal ji. No accusation can ever be so grand that it shrouds the truth. … BJP supporters must be writhing in deep shame and profound self-reproach.”

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav said that the court, while delivering the judgment, also called for filing a case against the CBI’s investigating officer in the case. “Agencies keep filing cases against opposition parties in the wrong manner. The BJP uses this to defame people,” said Yadav.

Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann, of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), said the discharge of Kejriwal, Sisodia, and others vindicated the party’s consistent stand that the 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 said in a video message.