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Kejriwal breaks down after relief in Delhi liquor policy case: ‘Court said I'm kattar imaandaar'
Shortly after the verdict by the Rouse Avenue Court, Kejriwal spoke to journalists and broke down in the middle of the interaction.
Former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was seen weeping on Friday as he interacted with the media following a big relief from court in the Delhi excise policy case linked to him. All 23 accused persons in the CBI’s case were discharged by a court in Delhi, Kejriwal and his former deputy Manish Sisodia among them.
Shortly after the verdict by the Rouse Avenue Court, Kejriwal spoke to journalists and broke down mid-speech. “I am not corrupt. The court has said that Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia are kattar imaandaar (completely honest),” the AAP national convenor said Sisodia tried to console him.
The Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22, introduced when the erstwhile AAP-led government was in power in the city, had been at the centre of controversy for long.
The CBI's case against the policy alleged that it caused financial losses to the state government by reducing license fees and fixing profit margins, and aimed to benefit a few private entities.
The CBI case was filed in August 2022, based on a complaint by Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, and alleged a conspiracy at the time of the policy formation.
However, on Friday, the Delhi court ruled that there was no overarching conspiracy or criminal intent in the formulation of the excise policy and discharged all 23 accused, including Kejriwal and Sisodia. The order was pronounced by Special Judge (PC Act) Jitender Singh of the Rouse Avenue Court.
Narrative of conspiracy by CBI?
As the court granted relief to all 23 accused in the case, it reportedly came down heavily on the CBI for building a “narrative” of conspiracy based on conjecture rather than concrete evidence.
According to news agency ANI, the court criticised the CBI investigation and questioned its reliance on statements by a person now turned approver in the case who was earlier one of the accused. The judge warned that permitting such conduct would amount to a grave violation of constitutional principles.
Apart from Kejriwal and Sisodia, accused K Kavitha, Kuldeep Singh, Narender Singh, Vijay Nair, Abhishek Boinpally, Arun Ramchandra Pillai, Mootha Goutam, Sameer Mahendru, Amandeep Singh Dhall, Arjun Pandey, Butchibabu Gornatla, Rakesh Joshi, Damodar Prasad Sharma, Prince Kumar, Chanpreet Singh Rayat, Arvind Kumar Singh, Durgesh Pathak, Amit Arora, Vinod Chauhan, Ashish Mathur, and P Sarath Chadra Reddy were also discharged.
