Excise policy case ‘biggest scam’: CBI tells Delhi HC

The CBI challenged the trial court’s discharge of Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, and 21 others in the 2021-22 Delhi excise policy case, calling the order “perverse” and alleging it amounted to acquittal without trial in a major corruption scam

New Delhi: Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on Monday told the Delhi High Court that the trial court’s order discharging AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal, former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and 21 others in the 2021-22 excise policy case was “perverse” and effectively amounted to an acquittal without trial.

Appearing for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), SG Mehta submitted before a single-judge Bench of Justice Swarnakanta Sharma that the case involved “one of the biggest scams in the history of the national Capital”.

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“This is a petition challenging the discharge order. The basic charge is that a manipulated policy was created which facilitated certain traders,” the Centre’s second highest law officer said, contending that the impugned order “turns criminal law on its head”.

He argued that the trial court erred in concluding that there was no corroborative material against the accused individuals. “The judge, while deciding the question of discharge, says there is no corroborative material. There is enough corroborative material which cannot be brushed away. The stage of discharge is not where you examine corroboration in detail,” SG Mehta submitted.

According to the CBI, the order had the effect of granting an acquittal even before a full-fledged trial could begin.

“This is an order of acquittal without trial. There is a clear case of corruption — bribes being taken, accepted and utilised, meetings taking place and forensic evidence being available,” SG Mehta told the Delhi High Court.

Referring to the investigation conducted by the central agency, he said the CBI had collected substantial evidence indicating a larger conspiracy behind the formulation of the excise policy.

“This is one of the biggest scams in the national Capital. A scientific investigation has been conducted. The conspiracy and its various facets have been established,” SG Mehta argued.

“There are witnesses who clearly state how the conspiracy was hatched, how the bribes were paid and to whom they were given,” he submitted, adding that the prosecution also possessed emails and WhatsApp chats linked to the alleged transactions.

The Delhi High Court is hearing a criminal revision petition filed by the CBI challenging the order of the Rouse Avenue Court, which had discharged all 23 accused in the case relating to the now-scrapped excise policy introduced by then AAP-led city government.

The CBI had alleged that the policy was tailored to benefit certain private liquor entities, including the ‘South Group’, in exchange for alleged upfront bribes purportedly routed for electoral purposes. It further claimed that irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the policy resulted in undue favours to licensees and losses to the public exchequer.

However, the trial court had rejected the agency’s “theory of an overarching conspiracy”, holding that the contemporaneous record indicated that the policy was the outcome of a consultative and deliberative process undertaken in accordance with prescribed procedure.