In a big relief to Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, a Delhi court on Friday discharged the former Delhi chief minister and his ex-deputy in the politically charged liquor policy case, as it refused to take cognisance of the CBI chargesheet. Besides the two leaders, 21 more were discharged in the case.
The CBI has been probing alleged corruption in the formulation and execution of the erstwhile-AAP government's now-scrapped excise policy.
Special Judge Jitendra Singh rapped the federal agency for lapses in investigation, saying there was no cogent evidence against Kejriwal, while there was no prima facie case against Sisodia. He underlined "some misleading averments" and said that the voluminous chargesheet had several lacunas not corroborated by evidence or witnesses.
"...The chargesheet suffers from internal contradictions, striking at the root of conspiracy theory," Judge Singh said.
He said that in the absence of any evidence, the allegations against Kejriwal could not be sustained and that the former chief minister was implicated without any cogent evidence. This, the judge said, was inconsistent with the rule of law.
Regarding Sisodia, the judge said there was no material on record showing his involvement, nor was any recovery made from him.
A detailed order is awaited.