Today, On 5th May, the Delhi High Court scheduled a hearing for AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia’s pleas against the ED chargesheet in the excise policy case on August 12, challenging the court’s order in the investigation.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court scheduled a hearing for August 12 regarding petitions from AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, challenging the trial court’s decision to acknowledge the Enforcement Directorate’s chargesheet in the alleged excise policy scam.
The Enforcement Directorate’s counsel argued that the petitions, filed in 2024, were moot since the agency had obtained the necessary sanction.
Additional Solicitor General S. V. Raju before Justice Ravinder Dudeja stated,
“We have the sanction. Sanction is filed in court,”
The Union Home Ministry granted the ED permission to prosecute Kejriwal and other defendants in January 2024, related to the money laundering case linked to the excise policy.
Kejriwal contends that the special court recognized the chargesheet in the money laundering case on July 9, 2024, without the required sanction for his prosecution, given that he was a public servant at the time of the alleged offense.
Similar concerns were raised by Sisodia, who argued in his petition that prior sanction was necessary due to the allegations pertaining to his official duties as a public servant. In addition to requesting the court to overturn the trial court’s ruling, Kejriwal seeks to quash all proceedings in the case.
The high court issued notice to the ED regarding Kejriwal’s petition on November 21, 2024, but did not stay the trial court’s proceedings at that time. A notice was also sent on December 2, 2024, concerning Sisodia’s petition.
Kejriwal was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court on July 12, 2024, for the money laundering case, and subsequently released on bail in a CBI case on September 13, 2024.
Sisodia received bail from the Supreme Court on August 9, 2024, for both the ED and CBI cases.
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The CBI and ED allege that irregularities occurred in the modification of the excise policy, granting undue advantages to license holders during Kejriwal’s administration.
The Delhi government introduced the policy on November 17, 2021, but repealed it by September 2022 amid corruption allegations. The money laundering case originated from a CBI investigation initiated after Delhi Lieutenant Governor V. K. Saxena recommended a probe into the alleged irregularities in the excise policy’s implementation.