In a major relief to former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, the court on Friday acquitted both the leaders in the alleged liquor policy scam case. The court refused to take cognizance of the chargesheet of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Now questions are being raised whether this will affect the Punjab elections to be held in the year 2027? Punjab Congress President Amarinder Singh Raja Wadding has reacted regarding this. He has said that he congratulates the Aam Aadmi Party leaders on their acquittal in the liquor scam, but the big question for BJP is why this happened. He said that the accused who were kept in jail for serious crimes for a long time, in this case too were kept in custody for a long time, then why the case could not stand in the court.
Will Punjab elections be affected or not?
Wadding also made it clear that this acquittal will not have any significant impact on the political environment of Punjab, because the Aam Aadmi Party government here will have to answer the questions being raised regarding its tenure and functioning. He said that the real issues in Punjab politics are related to the state and accountability will be fixed on them only.
Let us tell you that apart from Arvind and Manish, 21 other accused were also acquitted in this case. The CBI is probing alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-repealed excise policy by the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government. Special Judge Jitendra Singh slammed the federal probe agency for lapses in the investigation, saying there was no concrete evidence against Kejriwal, while prima facie no case was made out against Sisodia.
He highlighted “certain misleading statements” and said there were several deficiencies in the detailed chargesheet which were not corroborated by evidence or witnesses. Judge Singh said, “There are internal contradictions in the charge sheet, which strike at the root of the conspiracy theory.” He said that in the absence of any evidence, the allegations against Kejriwal cannot be sustained and the former Chief Minister has been implicated without any concrete evidence. The judge said that this was contrary to the rule of law. Regarding Sisodia, the judge said that there is no evidence on record to show his involvement nor has any recovery been made from him.