Excise policy scam: ED moves HC seeking expungement of trial court observations against agency
The CBI offence was the predicate offence, based on which the ED had launched the probe in the money laundering allegations in the liquor excise policy.
3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Mar 10, 2026 07:34 AM IST
The Enforcement Directorate has moved the Delhi High Court to expunge "adverse" remarks made by a trial court while discharging 23 accused in the excise policy case. (Express File)
After the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a petition in Delhi High Court, seeking expungement and deletion of “certain adverse, sweeping and unwarranted observations” made against the agency by a trial court while discharging 23 accused, including AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, in the alleged liquor excise policy scam.
ED has objected to instances where the trial court, in its judgement, had referred to allegations under the PMLA. These include observations such as: “…When such allegations are sought to be re-characterised or ‘dressed up’ as CBI cases or PMLA proceedings, an additional and more serious constitutional concern arises,” and “If investigative agencies such as the CBI or enforcement authorities under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) were permitted to enter the electoral arena merely on allegations of ‘cash spending’, ‘illegal funding’, or ‘unaccounted expenditure’, the inevitable consequence would be the criminalisation of electoral competition.”
The ED sought expungement of the trial court’s observations in relation to PMLA proceedings or ED’s pattern of probe, where the court said: “…It is noticed that, in several cases, the ED proceeds to file a prosecution complaint primarily to obviate the statutory consequence of default bail, without the investigation in the scheduled offence having attained finality.” The ED stated in its plea that such observations by the trial court “discloses a pre-determined approach wherein observations imbued with notes of finality” have been expressed in relation to the money laundering offence by the ED, when ED was not even a party to the said proceedings, and with the trial court not looking at the ED’s evidence against the accused.
The CBI offence was the predicate offence, based on which the ED had launched the probe in the money laundering allegations in the liquor excise policy.
Arguing that “grave and irreparable prejudice” would be caused to ED “if such sweeping, unguided, bald observations are permitted to stand,” ED, in its plea, has further submitted that such observations “have been passed behind the back of the Enforcement Directorate based on pure conjectures, without anchoring itself on any material or evidence gathered by the Enforcement Directorate”.
Terming such observations against the agency and its probe in relation to the PMLA case as “a clear case of judicial overreach”, the ED has also argued that the trial court’s observations are “contrary to the law laid down by various constitutional courts” which have held that money laundering offence is an independent offence, that the trial in a PMLA case can proceed independent of the trial in the scheduled offence case.
Sohini Ghosh is a Senior Correspondent at The Indian Express. Previously based in Ahmedabad covering Gujarat, she recently moved to the New Delhi bureau, where she primarily covers legal developments at the Delhi High Court
Professional Profile
Background: An alumna of the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), she previously worked with ET NOW before joining The Indian Express.
Core Beats: Her reporting is currently centered on the Delhi High Court, with a focus on high-profile constitutional disputes, disputes over intellectual property, criminal and civil cases, issues of human rights and regulatory law (especially in the areas of technology and healthcare).
Earlier Specialty: In Gujarat, she was known for her rigorous coverage in the beats of crime, law and policy, and social justice issues, including the 2002 riot cases, 2008 serial bomb blast case, 2016 flogging of Dalits in Una, among others.
She has extensively covered health in the state, including being part of the team that revealed the segregation of wards at the state’s largest government hospital on lines of faith in April 2020.
With Ahmedabad being a UNESCO heritage city, she has widely covered urban development and heritage issues, including the redevelopment of the Sabarmati Ashram
Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025)
Her recent reporting from the Delhi High Court covers major political, constitutional, corporate, and public-interest legal battles:
High-Profile Case Coverage
She has extensively covered the various legal battles - including for compensation under the aegis of North East Delhi Riots Claims Commission - pertaining to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, as well as 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
She has also led coverage at the intersection of technology and governance, and its impact on the citizenry, from, and beyond courtrooms — such as the government’s stakeholder consultations for framing AI-Deepfake policy.
Signature Style
Sohini is recognized for her sustained reporting from courtrooms and beyond. She specialises in breaking down dense legal arguments to make legalese accessible for readers. Her transition from Gujarat to Delhi has seen her expand her coverage on regulatory, corporate and intellectual property law, while maintaining a strong commitment to human rights and lacuna in the criminal justice system.
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