‘Infructuous’: ED on Kejriwal, Sisodia plea against charge sheet cognisance

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday told the Delhi high court that petitions by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia challenging the cognisance of the charge sheet filed against them in the Delhi excise case has become “infructuous” after the agency obtained sanctions to prosecute them in the case.

A bench of justice Ravinder Dudeja said the matter will be heard on August 12 to consider ED’s objections. The court was hearing the pleas filed by AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal and former Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia.

Appearing for the agency, ED special counsel Zoheb Hossain said, “Now we have got a sanction which has been filed in the court. It is now infructuous.”

The Union home ministry had granted sanction to the ED to prosecute Kejriwal and other accused in the excise policy-linked money laundering case in January this year.

The two had approached the high court against two different city court orders of taking cognisance of ED’s chargesheet and issuing production warrants against them. While Kejriwal had challenged the trial court’s July 9, 2024 order, Sisodia had petitioned against the May 30, 2023 order.

Their petitions also sought quashing all the proceedings emanating from the case, as it was submitted that the money laundering offence had been committed while they were public servants. This entitled them to the protection stipulated section 197(1) of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) as the alleged offence was in discharge of their official duty. Section 197(1) of the CrPC, mandates that no prosecution against a public servant can proceed without obtaining prior sanction from the competent authority.

The said provision corresponds to Section 218 of the Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, which has replaced the CrPC with effect from July 1. The Supreme Court too had emphasised in its past rulings that prior sanction is required to prosecute public servants for money laundering.

Sisodia and Kejriwal are facing probe from Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and ED for allegedly benefitting private players by formulating the now-scrapped 2021-22 liquor excise policy. Sisodia was arrested in February 2023 for his alleged role in the conspiracy to introduce the policy to benefit private retailers by increasing commission rates from 5% to 12% and was granted bail by the Supreme Court in August last year. Kejriwal was arrested by the ED and subsequently by the CBI in March and June last year and was granted bail by the Supreme Court on July 12, 2024.