New Delhi, Feb. 28 -- The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday approached the Delhi High Court challenging a trial court order that exonerated all 23 accused in the alleged Delhi excise policy case, including former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia. In its appeal and a statement issued the same day, the agency said that several aspects of its investigation at the stage of framing of charges "have not been considered adequately" or were "ignored" in the ruling. "CBI has decided to appeal in the high court against the judgement of trial court immediately since several aspects of investigation have either been ignored or not considered adequately," a CBI spokesperson said on Friday. Earlier on Friday, special judge Jitendra Singh of Rouse Avenue Court cleared all the accused of wrongdoing in the formulation and implementation of the now-repealed 2021-22 Delhi excise policy. The court held that the CBI's theory of an overarching conspiracy was not borne out by the material on record. "The investigation, when tested against the material collected by the agency itself, reflects a fundamental failure to properly appreciate, evaluate, or draw lawful inferences from the evidence and documents on record. As a result, the prosecution case is rendered legally infirm, unsustainable, and unfit to proceed any further in law," the court said, adding that the conspiracy theory "stands completely dismantled when tested against the evidentiary record". The CBI's charge sheet had described the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as a "beneficiary" of alleged ill-gotten gains generated through the policy, and argued that Kejriwal, as its national convenor, bore responsibility. However, unlike the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which named AAP as an accused in the case, the CBI did not name AAP itself as an accused. Relying on witness statements, the CBI alleged that Kejriwal was among the main conspirators "from the very beginning" and had a "pre-conceived idea" of privatising the liquor trade in Delhi and dividing the city into retail zones to be auctioned. The agency further claimed that of the Rs.100 crore in alleged kickbacks received from a purported "South Group" in exchange for favourable liquor licences, Rs.44.45 crore was routed to Goa between June 2021 and January 2022 through hawala channels for AAP's election campaign. Similar allegations were made by the ED in its separate charge sheets. According to CBI's charge sheet, Vijay Nair, a former communications in-charge of AAP and a close aide of Kejriwal, began contacting liquor firms as early as March 2021, allegedly seeking gratification in return for incorporating provisions favourable to them in the proposed policy. A key part of the agency's case relied on the statement of Ongole MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, who claimed he met Kejriwal on March 16, 2021, seeking support for his liquor business in Delhi. As per the charge sheet, Kejriwal assured him of support and asked him to get in touch with K Kavitha. The CBI alleged that on March 20, 2021, Kavitha told Reddy that Rs.100 crore should be arranged as upfront payment for AAP. The agency further claimed that the wholesale (L1) licence granted to Indospirits - a firm in which Kavitha and Reddy's son Raghav Magunta allegedly had stakes - was issued in violation of rules. CBI also questioned before the court the manner in which the policy was approved, alleging that it was formulated on May 20 and 21, 2021, and processed and cleared by the council of ministers through circulation on May 21 in a "hurried manner", despite the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic. On the alleged money trail, the agency pointed to election expenditure statements submitted by AAP to the Election Commission of India for the Goa assembly polls. According to the charge sheet, the party declared total expenditure of Rs.3.49 crore, including Rs.2.43 crore on advertisements and propaganda and Rs.21.3 lakh on publicity materials. The CBI claimed that major cash payments to vendors, assembly managers, booth in-charges and volunteers were suppressed....