A Delhi court on Friday cleared all 23 people charged by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the high‑profile liquor policy case, including Aam Aadmi Party figures Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, according to court filings and media reports.
The Rouse Avenue Court said there was no evidence of a broader conspiracy or criminal intent in the framing of the excise policy, the legal news site Bar and Bench reported.
Among those discharged was former Bharat Rashtra Samithi lawmaker K Kavitha, Live Law reported.
The court criticised the CBI for naming Kejriwal and Sisodia in the case without concrete evidence, saying the chargesheet contained significant gaps and lacked supporting witness testimony, Live Law said.
The bench also said it would recommend a departmental inquiry into the conduct of CBI officials who had designated Kejriwal as the main accused.
Unidentified CBI officials told news agency ANI that the agency plans to challenge the verdict in the Delhi High Court.
After the ruling, Kejriwal said truth had prevailed.
Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah of orchestrating “the biggest political conspiracy” against the AAP, Kejriwal said the chief minister had been hauled from his home and jailed.
Sisodia said the outcome showed he and Kejriwal were “staunchly honest” despite efforts by the ruling party and investigative agencies to portray them otherwise.
Bharatiya Janata Party spokesman Sudhanshu Trivedi said the acquittal reflected a lack of evidence and described the outcome as a “technical matter”.
“The CBI will take the next step on this case,” he told reporters, adding that the BJP would respond after a detailed review of the judgment. “One must think — if the charges were baseless, then how were they framed?”
Kejriwal, who was Delhi’s chief minister at the time, was first arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in March 2024. The Supreme Court granted him interim bail in July 2024, but he remained in custody after being arrested by the CBI in June 2024. He was freed in September 2024 after receiving bail in the CBI case.
The CBI had accused the Delhi government of irregularities in its liquor excise policy, which was later withdrawn. The Enforcement Directorate also investigated alleged money‑laundering linked to the policy.
The policy, introduced in November 2021 and scrapped in July 2022, was amended to raise the commission for wholesalers from 5% to 12%, the agencies alleged, a move they said benefitted certain wholesalers who paid kickbacks — charges the AAP has denied.
Sisodia, Delhi’s deputy chief minister at the time, was arrested by the CBI in February 2023 and by the ED in March 2023. He was granted bail in August 2024 after nearly 17 months in custody.