The Delhi High Court on Monday issued notice on a petition by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) challenging the trial court’s February 27, 2026, order discharging Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal, former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, BRS leader K Kavitha, and 20 others in the alleged ₹1,000 crore Delhi excise policy corruption case. Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma not only admitted the CBI’s plea but also stayed the trial court’s adverse observations against the agency, including its criticism of implicating Kejriwal without “cogent material” and labeling certain accused as the “South Group” based on regional origins.

During the hearing, the court directed the trial court to defer proceedings in the linked Enforcement Directorate (ED) money laundering case until the next hearing in the CBI matter, scheduled for March 16, 2026. This intervention came at the behest of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the CBI, who warned that the discharge in the predicate offence could derail the ED probe. Mehta highlighted “paras after paras” in the 600-page trial court order that effectively undermined the ED chargesheet, urging that the two probes must proceed in tandem to avoid miscarriage of justice.

Mehta lambasted the trial court’s verdict as “one of the biggest scams in the history of the national capital” and “the biggest shame,” accusing it of turning “criminal law on its head” by granting a “de facto acquittal without trial.” He detailed the agency’s meticulous investigation—examining 164 witnesses, recovering forensic evidence, emails, and WhatsApp chats—revealing a conspiracy involving manipulated policy decisions, secret meetings, bribe payments, and kickbacks to favor private liquor cartels. “Clear case of corruption, bribe being taken, accepted, utilised… I have not seen such meticulous evidence collected by any agency,” Mehta asserted, emphasizing that approver statements and collaborative material need not be fully corroborated at the discharge stage but only during trial.

The CBI’s FIR, registered in August 2022 following a referral from Delhi L-G V.K. Saxena, alleged that the AAP government’s 2021-22 excise policy—aimed at privatizing liquor retail to boost revenue—granted undue favors to select licensees, causing massive losses to the exchequer. Key accused like Sisodia (arrested February 26, 2023, by CBI and March 9 by ED after 530 days in jail) and Kejriwal (arrested June 26, 2024, while in ED custody, released on bail September 13, 2024) were accused of tweaking the policy without approvals to benefit the “South Group” of liquor vendors.

Special CBI Judge Dinesh Kumar Sharma, in discharging all 23 accused—including Vijay Nair, Abhishek Boinpally, Arun Pillai, and others—described the CBI’s “voluminous chargesheet” as riddled with lacunae, lacking witness corroboration or prima facie evidence against Sisodia or Kejriwal. The order rapped the agency for investigative lapses and hasty implications, allowing the accused to walk free without framing charges.

The policy, scrapped amid allegations of irregularities, sought to end government control over liquor sales but was probed for favoritism toward private entities. The ED’s parallel PMLA case, treating the CBI FIR as the predicate offence, alleges money laundering through election funding to AAP via kickbacks. With the High Court’s stay, the CBI hopes to revive the case, potentially sending it back for trial and impacting the ED proceedings.