BJP welcomes HC direction in excise policy case, AAP says its acquittal still stands

The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Aam Aadmi Party engaged in a war of words on Monday, each interpreting the Delhi High Court order in the excise policy case in its favour.

The BJP welcomed the high court’s directions, saying that it marked the end of the AAP’s brief celebrations. The AAP, however, maintained that the court has only temporarily stopped administrative action against the CBI officials and not stayed the discharge of its leaders.

Delhi Minister Ashish Sood slammed AAP, saying it started celebrating a trial court’s decision a little too early. “The high court, by staying the lower court’s observations, has proved that AAP’s claim that there was no (excise policy) case at all, was hollow,” Sood said in a press conference.

He said that a CAG report has said that the liquor scam involved over Rs 2,000 crore, and 170 mobile phones and 43 SIM cards used by the accused were destroyed.

The high court on Monday sought replies from former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and 21 others on a petition filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) challenging a lower court’s decision to discharge them in the liquor policy case.

The high court also indicated that it would stay the trial court’s “prejudicial” remarks against the CBI officials.  Addressing a press conference, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva welcomed the high court’s decision to admit the CBI petition.

“The lower court’s acquittal of Kejriwal is not a very unusual development. In the past, several scam-accused leaders such as Lalu Prasad Yadav, A Raja and Kanimozhi were discharged by lower courts, and they celebrated briefly, but many were later given major punishments,” he said.

On February 27, a CBI court discharged Kejriwal, Sisodia and other accused in the excise policy case.