A group of leaders stood on stage with their supporters, raising their hands against a purple backdrop bearing Hindi text, moments after a major court ruling in Delhi.

In a significant development on Friday, a Delhi court discharged all 23 individuals named in the CBI’s excise policy case, commonly referred to as the alleged liquor scam. Among those cleared were former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, both senior leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Reacting emotionally to the verdict, Kejriwal stated, “I am not corrupt. The court has affirmed that both Manish Sisodia and I are honest.” Overcome with emotion, he described the excise policy case as the “largest political conspiracy in the history of Independent India.”

The ruling was delivered by Special Judge Jitendra Singh, who observed that there was no substantive material on record to back the prosecution’s claims against the accused. The court declined to take cognisance of the Central Bureau of Investigation’s chargesheet in connection with the alleged corruption surrounding the now-withdrawn excise policy.

The CBI had submitted its initial chargesheet in 2022 and later filed multiple supplementary chargesheets. The agency alleged that a sum of ₹100 crore was paid by a purported “south lobby” to sway the excise policy in its favour before it was scrapped.

According to reports, the 23 individuals named in the case included Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, K Kavitha, Vijay Nair, Abhishek Boinpally, Arun Ramchandra Pillai, Sameer Mahendru, Amandeep Singh Dhall, Durgesh Pathak, Amit Arora, Vinod Chauhan, and several others.

With the court finding insufficient grounds to proceed, all accused in the case have now been discharged.