Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday visited Sri Sachkhand Sri Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar with his wife, alongside Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann and their family members, days after a Delhi trial court discharged him, Manish Sisodia and 21 others in the CBI case linked to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy. AAP said the visit was meant to offer prayers and express gratitude after the February 27 order. The legal proceedings, however, are continuing, with the CBI’s challenge to the discharge and a separate ED plea over trial court observations now before the Delhi High Court.
In statements issued after the visit, Kejriwal said he had bowed his head in prayer to thank Waheguru and seek strength for public service. He said AAP leaders had faced false allegations and imprisonment, and described the trial court order as a vindication of the party’s stand. In the reporter’s voice, however, the position is more limited: the trial court discharged the accused at the pre-trial stage, meaning it found insufficient basis to proceed at that stage, but the order has not attained finality because it is being tested in the High Court.
Kejriwal also used the occasion to defend the AAP government’s record in Punjab. He said the state government had worked in areas such as schools, hospitals, health services and women’s welfare over the past four years, and added that further work was planned on jobs, infrastructure and industrial growth. He referred to the upcoming Invest Punjab summit, which the Punjab government has positioned as part of its push to attract domestic and overseas investment.
Mann, who accompanied Kejriwal during the visit, said the party had come to offer prayers after what he described as a favourable court development for AAP leaders. He also linked the visit to the Punjab government’s wider political messaging during the ongoing budget session, saying the administration had presented a public welfare-oriented budget and was seeking to push growth in agriculture, power supply and industry. The Mann government has in recent days highlighted women-focused budget measures and investment outreach as key parts of its fourth-year governance pitch.
The visit, however, unfolded against an active political and legal contest over the excise policy case. The BJP has said the discharge order should not be read as a declaration of innocence and has argued that the matter is far from over. Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said after the trial court order that insufficient evidence and complete innocence are different things, and that the legal process was still open to scrutiny in higher courts. Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva later welcomed the High Court’s decision to take up the CBI’s plea, while Delhi minister Ashish Sood alleged that evidence had been destroyed and said AAP leaders owed an explanation to the public.
Court proceedings since the discharge have reinforced that the case remains live. The CBI has told the High Court that the trial court order was illegal and based on a selective reading of the prosecution case. The High Court has issued notice to the accused on the CBI plea and said certain findings of the trial court appeared, prima facie, to require consideration. In the connected matter, the High Court has also issued notice on the ED’s plea seeking removal of adverse observations made against the agency, while indicating that the broader judgment itself is already under challenge. A hearing in the CBI matter has been fixed for March 16, while the ED matter is listed for March 19.
That leaves AAP free to project the Amritsar visit as a moment of religious thanksgiving and political reassurance, but not to treat the legal chapter as conclusively closed. For now, the trial court order has given the party fresh political ammunition, even as the agencies and the BJP continue to contest its interpretation before the High Court.
