New Delhi, February 27 An emotional Arvind Kejriwal on Friday asserted that the corruption case against him was the "biggest political conspiracy" in the history of Independent India, as a court here discharged him in the politically sensational liquor policy case.
Just as the verdict came, the three-time former Delhi chief minister broke down before reporters.
"The court has proven that Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and AAP are 'utterly honest'," he said.
Kejriwal alleged that the "conspiracy" of the excise case was hatched to eliminate AAP.
It was entirely a fake case with the roles of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah behind its fabrication, the fresh-off-the-hook leader alleged.
Sunita Kejriwal, his wife, thanked the court and the judge for "courage."
"Arvind Kejriwal lived his entire life with honesty and for the progress of the country. But these people, in their greed for power, leveled false charges, jailed his aides... But I had faith in God," she told
Before the court vindication, the multi-crore-rupee corruption allegations led to the jailing of Kejriwal and Sisodia for an extended period of time.
After he went to prison, Kejriwal resigned from the post of Delhi chief minister, vowing to return to the post only when he was proven innocent.
Kejriwal became the first sitting Delhi chief minister to be arrested on March 21, 2024. He got bail from the Supreme Court on September 13 of the same year.
Sisodia, a former deputy chief minister, served around 17 months in jail before being released on bail.
On Friday, a Delhi court discharged both leaders in the excise policy-related corruption case, refusing to take cognizance of the CBI chargesheet.
Special Judge Jitendra Singh said that the chargesheet had several lacunae not supported by evidence, as he discharged 21 more besides the two Aam Aadmi Party leaders in the matter.
K Kavitha, the daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and a leader from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi, was also among the acquitted.
The CBI has been probing alleged corruption in the formulation and execution of the erstwhile-AAP government's now-scrapped excise policy.