NEW DELHI: Arvind Kejriwal is back with a bang. A Delhi court today discharged the former Delhi chief minister, his ex-deputy Manish Sisodia and 21 others in an excise policy-related corruption case that had kept senior AAP leaders months in jail and had also played a key role in the eventual fall of their government. Special judge Jitendra Singh refused to take cognisance of the CBI chargesheet in the case and observed that the central agency’s charges did not withstand judicial scrutiny, especially when the CBI sought to construct a narrative of conspiracy on mere conjecture.“This court has no hesitation in holding that the material placed on record does not disclose even a prima facie case, much less any grave suspicion, against any of the accused persons. Accordingly, Accused Nos 1-23 are discharged of all the offences alleged against them in the present case,” special judge Jitendra Singh said.“There is no material to show his presence at any conspiratorial meeting or to indicate his knowledge of any unlawful arrangement. The attempt to implicate him rests on an inference drawn from an uncorroborated accomplice-like statement,” he said.An emotional Kejriwal asserted that the corruption case against him was the “biggest political conspiracy” in the history of Independent India. He blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah for plotting against AAP.“The court has proved that Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and AAP are ‘Kattar Imaandar’,” the three-time chief minister said.But has this court vindication come too late? The excise policy case had forced the AAP chief to quit as Delhi chief minister and also played a key role in Kejriwal’s electoral defeat in the 2025 assembly elections. Kejriwal became the first sitting Delhi chief minister to be arrested on March 21, 2024. He later got bail from the Supreme Court on September 13 of the same year. So, what does this verdict mean for Kejriwal and national politics?Kejriwal returns from ‘exile’Arvind Kejriwal had literally been in a self-imposed exile ever since he lost power to the BJP in Delhi. But the court verdict today saw the return of his aggression and also his “tears”. The former Delhi chief minister was unsparing in his attacks on the BJP, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah. “Two people, PM Modi and Amit Shah, hatched this conspiracy to finish the Aam Aadmi Party. Today, they should apologise to the country. They knew they couldn’t beat us in Delhi. They knew people were happy with AAP, and that’s why they hatched this case. I have only earned honesty, not money. I am not like them. Now this has been proved that Kejriwal and AAP are ‘Kattar Imandaar’ (brutally honest),” Kejriwal alleged after the court verdict.“BJP has thrown Delhi into chaos with problems like pollution, polluted Yamuna, damaged roads… I challenge PM Modi to hold fresh polls in Delhi and if BJP wins over 10 seats, I will quit politics,” the AAP chief asserted.Big boost for AAP ahead of Punjab assembly electionsWhile elections in Delhi are far away, the court verdict will come as a big boost to Arvind Kejriwal in Punjab which has an AAP government. Kejriwal, who has been focusing on preparing ground for the assembly elections in Punjab next year, will go all out to cash in on this court vindication. In the last assembly elections, the AAP had swept out the Congress, winning 92 of the 117 seats with a vote share of 40%. The Congress with 18 seats and the BJP with 2 seats were literally decimated.Renewed challenge for CongressThe Congress had an interesting reaction to make after the court relief for Kejriwal. The party would perhaps be worried about the impact of this, especially in Punjab, where the Congress would have hoped to target the AAP on corruption issues. Little wonder, the Congress reaction was somewhat guarded. While it used the judgment to target the BJP, it was quick to call Kejriwal’s discharge as “predictable script” and dub AAP as a “convenient ally” of the saffron party. A politically strong Kejriwal is not good news for Congress not just in Punjab, but also in Gujarat where the AAP has made strong inroads at the expense of the grand-old-party.“The BJP is not a political party. It is a shape-shifter, a wishful serpent – ‘Icchadhari Naag’. It will stoop to any level for one obsessive goal: defeat Congress – ‘Congress Mukt Bharat’,” Congress media and publicity cell head Pawan Khera said.“Elections are coming. So the script is predictable. Cases against Congress leaders will suddenly accelerate — P Chidambaram has already been dragged back into the spotlight because Tamil Nadu is going to the polls. Meanwhile, proceedings against their convenient allies in the AAP and others will quietly vanish in light of the Gujarat and Punjab elections,” the Congress leader added.Opposition rallies behind KejriwalKejriwal, who was once a strong claimant to lead the opposition bloc by virtue of his electoral victories against the BJP, faced political oblivion after alleged charges in the excise policy case and his party’s loss in Delhi. After today’s verdict, almost all opposition parties rallied strongly behind him. Opposition parties said in unison that the development was a blow to the Centre’s falsehoods and misuse of investigating agencies. The Trinamool Congress and the Left parties welcomed the verdict and said it exposed the BJP’s politics of vendetta. Akhilesh Yadav said the collapse of the excise policy case was a “moral death sentence” for the BJP as it had betrayed the people of Delhi. “Today, every honest person will breathe a sigh of relief, while the BJP supporters must be writhing in deep shame,” Yadav said.RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav welcomed the court order and demanded that fresh elections be held in the national capital.BJP under opposition fireThe BJP, which carried out a sustained campaign against Arvind Kejriwal and his AAP government over the excise policy and eventually won the Delhi elections, came under intense opposition fire after today’s court verdict. The opposition parties renewed their attacks on BJP for “misusing central agencies as weapons against political rivals”.“This is a really important day for the politics of the country. Narendra Modi ji was hatching a conspiracy with the strength of ED and CBI just to be in power; that conspiracy has been foiled…The country is questioning him today…SC had already said that the case won’t stand the trial. Today, the judge said the same…An inquiry has been set up on the CBI officer. BJP should admit that they were lying,” said AAP leader Manish Sisodia, who spent 17 months in jail in connection with the case.And while the BJP rubbished all these charges, it would perhaps be wary of the possible fallout of the verdict in West Bengal, which goes to elections in a few months time. The BJP is the principal challenger to Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress and has led a very aggressive campaign against the West Bengal government. Mamata will likely use the court verdict to discredit the BJP’s offensive against her government and blame the saffron party for using investigative agencies as political tools.