Kejriwal, Sisodia Submit ₹50,000 Surety Bonds After Discharge in Delhi Excise Policy Case

New Delhi, March 2026 : Former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Saturday furnished surety bonds of ₹50,000 each before a court in the national capital following their discharge in the corruption case linked to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy.

The leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party appeared before the Rouse Avenue Court and submitted the required surety bonds in compliance with an earlier order passed by the court while discharging them in the case investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

According to legal procedure, an accused person who is discharged or acquitted in a criminal case must furnish a surety bond to ensure their presence before the court if the prosecution decides to challenge the order in a higher court. The bond acts as a legal guarantee that the individuals will appear whenever required during further proceedings.

In a detailed judgment delivered on February 27, the Rouse Avenue Court discharged all the accused in the case, including Kejriwal and Sisodia. The ruling came in connection with alleged irregularities in the formulation and implementation of the excise policy introduced by the then AAP-led Delhi government.

The trial court’s judgment, running into more than 1,100 paragraphs, examined the evidence presented by the Central Bureau of Investigation and concluded that the allegations did not establish a criminal conspiracy as claimed by the probe agency.

However, the discharge order has since been challenged before the Delhi High Court by the CBI through a criminal revision petition. Earlier this week, a single-judge bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma issued notices to Kejriwal, Sisodia and other accused persons while hearing the agency’s plea that questioned the trial court’s decision to discharge them and refuse framing of charges.

During the proceedings, the High Court also stayed the trial court’s directive that had called for departmental action against a CBI officer involved in the investigation. The High Court said that the remarks made by the trial court against the investigating officer and the probe agency would remain stayed until further orders.

The case pertains to alleged irregularities in the now-withdrawn Delhi excise policy framed by the AAP government. The Central Bureau of Investigation had alleged that the policy was structured to favour certain private liquor companies in return for alleged bribes.

However, the trial court rejected the CBI’s claims of a broader conspiracy. It observed that the available records suggested that the policy had been formulated through a consultative process and deliberations in accordance with established procedures.

In a related development, Arvind Kejriwal has also submitted a representation to Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya requesting that the CBI’s revision petition be transferred from the bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma to another bench of the Delhi High Court.

In the representation, Kejriwal urged the Chief Justice—who is the master of the roster—to consider reassigning the matter to a different bench for hearing. Further proceedings in the case are expected in the coming weeks as the High Court examines the CBI’s challenge to the trial court’s ruling.

(The content of this article is sourced from a news agency and has not been edited by the Mavericknews30 team.)