5 months, 17 months, and finally freedom: Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia cleared in Delhi excise case

NEW DELHI: Former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) were acquitted on Friday in the Delhi excise policy case.

Kejriwal spent around five months in jail in connection with the case, while Sisodia remained behind bars for around 17 months before securing bail.




The case, investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), was linked to allegations surrounding the 2021-22 Delhi liquor policy. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) also probed the matter under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The controversy centred on allegations that political leaders deliberately created loopholes in the now-scrapped excise policy to extend undue favours to certain licence holders. The investigation was initiated following a complaint by Delhi lieutenant governor VK Saxena.

Timeline of Arrests And Custody

• On May 10, 2024, the Supreme Court granted Kejriwal interim bail until June 1 to campaign for the Lok Sabha elections. He surrendered at Tihar Jail on June 2.
• Though a trial court granted him regular bail on June 20, the Delhi High Court stayed the order on June 25 after the ED challenged it. On the same day, the CBI also arrested Kejriwal in the case.
• On July 12, 2024, the Supreme Court granted him interim bail in the ED case while referring broader questions related to PMLA to a larger Bench. However, he continued in custody due to the CBI arrest. Kejriwal later approached the courts for bail in the CBI case as well, and the Supreme Court eventually granted him relief, bringing his total time in jail to around five months.

• In November 2021, the Delhi government introduced the new liquor policy for 2021-22.
• By July 2022, LG VK Saxena had recommended a CBI probe into alleged irregularities.
• The CBI registered a case against 15 persons, including then-Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, and later raided his residence. The Delhi government scrapped the policy in September 2022.
• On February 26, 2023, the CBI arrested Sisodia after eight hours of questioning.
• The ED arrested him 12 days later in a related money laundering case. Sisodia remained in jail until August 9, 2024, when the Supreme Court granted him bail — marking nearly 17 months in custody.

Meanwhile, the ED issued multiple summonses to Kejriwal between October 2023 and March 2024. On March 21, 2024, after the high court refused protection from arrest, the ED arrested him.

How Arvind Kejriwal Spent His Time In Jail

Former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was sent to Tihar Jail after a court remanded him in judicial custody in the excise policy case, had spent most of his time meditating, reading books and practising yoga in his cell, sources had said at the time.

Kejriwal had occupied a 14x8-foot room in general ward number 3 of Tihar, considered Asia’s largest jail.

According to jail sources, he had spent the majority of his day reading books and engaging in yoga and meditation twice daily. “He did yoga and meditated for about one and a half hours each morning and evening,” an official source had said.

He had been seen reading the Hindu epics Ramayana and Mahabharata, along with How Prime Ministers Decide. “He was often seen reading these books and writing something while sitting on the chair in his cell,” the source had said.

A jail official had said Kejriwal could also access books available in the prison library. However, at the time, he had not asked for any additional books.

Despite having access to a television with 20 channels, he had reportedly shown little interest in watching it.

Court-mandated provisions in his cell had included a table, chair, electric kettle, broom, bucket and cloth for cleaning. Surveillance cameras had monitored him round the clock, and a designated space outside his cell had allowed him to stretch and walk.

Due to security measures, Kejriwal had not been permitted to interact with other inmates. “Whenever he went to meet his lawyer, which was daily, he was escorted by QRT personnel,” a source had said.

He had received timely tea and home-cooked meals, and sources had added that he had not demanded anything beyond the prescribed facilities during his stay.