The Delhi High Court will hear the petitions of AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia on Monday, in which petitions have been filed against the lower court’s decision to take cognizance of the charge sheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate in the alleged Excise Policy Scam. The petitions filed in 2024 are listed before Justice Ravinder Dudeja for hearing.
According to the former Delhi Chief Minister, the special court took cognizance of the charge sheet filed in the money laundering case related to the scam when there was no approval for prosecution against him, while he was a public servant at the time of the alleged crime.
The former Deputy Chief Minister has also raised similar objections. Sisodia said in his petition that since the allegations against him are related to the official functions done by him as a public servant, prosecution required prior approval. Apart from demanding the trial court order to be canceled, Kejriwal has also demanded to cancel all proceedings in the case.
The High Court issued a notice to the ED on Kejriwal’s petition on November 21, 2024 and refused to stay the trial court proceedings at that level. The notice was issued to the agency on 2 December 2024 on Sisodia’s petition. While Kejriwal was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court on July 12, 2024 in the money laundering case, he was released on bail in the CBI case on 13 September, 2024 by the Supreme Court.
Sisodia was granted bail by the Supreme Court on August 9, 2024 in cases filed by ED and CBI. According to the CBI and ED, irregularities were made while revising the excise policy and the license holders were given unfair advantage. The Delhi government implemented the policy on 17 November 2021 and abolished it by September 2022 amid allegations of corruption. The case of money laundering is aroused by the CBI case filed after Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena recommended an inquiry into the alleged irregularities in the implementation of the excise policy.