The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has moved the Delhi High Court challenging the recent order of a Delhi trial court that discharged all 23 accused in the alleged Delhi excise policy case, including Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K. Kavitha.
Sources within the agency said the appeal has been filed promptly, contending that the trial court failed to adequately consider several crucial aspects of the investigation. The CBI is understood to have argued that key evidentiary materials and findings were either overlooked or not properly appreciated while passing the discharge order.
The development comes after the Rouse Avenue Court, presided over by Special Judge (Prevention of Corruption Act) Jitender Singh, discharged all the accused, holding that there was no material to substantiate allegations of criminal conspiracy or misconduct in the formulation and implementation of the Delhi excise policy.
In its order, the court observed that the prosecution had not been able to establish the existence of any overarching conspiracy or criminal intent behind the policy decisions. The judge concluded that the evidence on record did not meet the threshold required to frame charges, leading to the closure of the case initiated by the CBI.
Apart from Kejriwal, Sisodia, and Kavitha, other accused who were discharged include Bijay Nair, Durgesh Pathak and several others named in the FIR.
The case originated from a complaint lodged in 2022 by Delhi Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena, following which the CBI registered a First Information Report and launched an investigation into alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped excise policy.
With the CBI’s appeal now before the Delhi High Court, the matter is set to enter a new legal phase, where the higher judiciary will examine the validity of the trial court’s findings and determine whether the discharge order warrants interference.
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