India court acquits Modi opponent Kejriwal in graft case

NEW DELHI: An Indian court acquitted the former chief minister of the capital Delhi on Friday in a long-running corruption probe the man had called a "political conspiracy" by the ruling party.

Opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal was Delhi’s chief minister before losing elections in 2025 in the midst of the judicial proceedings.

Kejriwal, 57, who spent several months in jail after he was arrested in March 2024 on accusations that his administration received kickbacks from the allocation of liquor licenses, wept as he left court.

"Truth has won," Kejriwal told reporters after the verdict, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah of using a "political conspiracy" to finish AAP.

On Friday, a Delhi court cleared him, his former deputy Manish Sisodia and 21 others of all charges.

A key opponent to Modi, he had consistently denied wrongdoing.

'Modi, Shah conspired to target AAP leaders': Kejriwal after court acquits him in excise policy case

“For the past few years, the BJP has been accusing us in the Delhi excise policy case, today the court has rejected all the allegations levelled against us. PM [Narendra] Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah conspired against AAP and arrested the party’s five biggest leaders. They wanted to finish AAP. A sitting chief minister was arrested. This had never happened in India,” Kejriwal told reporters outside the court.

“We were accused and called corrupt in every channel. The court has said today that Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and AAP are honest,” he added, while breaking down into tears.

The case originated from a July 2022 report by the then Delhi Chief Secretary to the Lieutenant Governor, alleging procedural lapses in the formulation of the excise policy and claiming financial losses of over Rs 580 crore to the exchequer. The CBI registered a corruption case, while the Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed a separate money laundering case, which is still pending.

Rekha Gupta, a member of Modi’s Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, was elected as chief minister of the sprawling megacity of more than 30 million people in February 2025.

Kejriwal began his career as a tax collector but quit his civil service job to become an anti-corruption crusader, bringing him national fame.

Several of Modi’s opponents have faced criminal investigation or trial in recent years, including two state chief ministers.

In August 2025, the government introduced a bill to remove politicians if they are arrested and detained for 30 days, which opponents called a "chilling" bid to crush constitutional safeguards.