Court acquits Kejriwal for skipping ED summons in Delhi excise policy case

A Delhi court on Thursday (January 22, 2026) acquitted Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in cases related to skipping summons issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the excise policy case.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Paras Dalal of the Rouse Avenue Court acquitted Mr. Kejriwal. A detailed order is awaited.

The Central agency, probing money laundering cases related to an alleged excise policy scam, had approached the court in February 2024, stating that Mr. Kejriwal, one of the accused in the matter, was not complying with its repeated summons for interrogation.

The summons issued by the agency were against the law and politically motivated, Mr. Kejriwal has said.

The AAP leader welcomed the court’s verdict. “Truth alone triumphs,” he said in a post on social media platform X.

The case stems from a complaint lodged by the Lieutenant-Governor of Delhi, V.K. Saxena, who alleged irregularities in the framing and implementation of Delhi’s excise policy in 2022.

The initial First Information Report was lodged by the Central Bureau of Investigation, which alleged in the chargesheet that irregularities had been committed while modifying the excise policy; undue favours had been extended to license-holders; license fee had been waived or reduced; and L-1 license had been extended without the competent authority’s approval. The beneficiaries diverted “illegal” gains to the accused officials, and made false entries in their books of accounts to evade detection, it was alleged.

The ED had later booked several persons for money laundering, including Mr. Kejriwal, who was arrested in the case, and was granted bail by the Supreme Court after spending several months in jail.