Court accepts ED’s sanction in Arvind Kejriwal excise policy case; plea challenging chargesheet dismissed

NEW DELHI: The Rouse Avenue Court on Saturday upheld the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) submission that the sanction obtained in the CBI case is broad enough to cover offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act and other related charges.

The ED made this statement in response to a plea filed by Delhi's former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who claimed he had not received a copy of the sanction order in the ED case against him.

Kejriwal had argued that the necessary sanction was missing from the documents provided with the chargesheet. However, the ED’s Special Counsel clarified that the sanction was comprehensive, covering offences arising from the same facts. The court accepted this clarification and disposed of Kejriwal’s plea.

This comes after Kejriwal had earlier challenged the trial court’s decision to take cognizance of the ED's chargesheet, claiming the lack of sanction violated legal provisions. The Delhi High Court had previously issued a notice on Kejriwal’s plea, but did not stay trial proceedings.

The excise policy case, which involves allegations of corruption, kickbacks, and mismanagement of the excise policy, has led to several legal challenges, with Kejriwal currently out on bail in both the ED and CBI cases.