Arvind Kejriwal’s court discharge a blow to Union government: Kerala Chief Minister

The discharge of former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his former deputy Manish Sisodia by a Delhi court in the liquor policy case was a blow to the Union government’s misuse of power to implicate political foes in false cases, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said.

The trial court’s decision was not only a setback to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) but also to the Congress that helped the BJP for vested political interests, the Chief Minister said in a statement on Friday.

The court had in effect questioned the BJP’s bid to destabilise government in States using Central agencies, Mr. Vijayan said. The court had rapped the Central Bureau of Investigation for implicating Mr. Kejriwal in the absence of any evidence, he pointed out.

The Congress was the first to pull the strings to put Mr. Kejriwal in jail. In June 2022, the then Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president approached the Delhi Police, which is under the Union Home Ministry, alleging corruption in the liquor policy, the Chief Minister said.

Mr. Vijayan said he had spoken to Mr. Kejriwal in the wake of the court verdict.