Kejriwal, Sisodia bought iPhones worth lakhs on taxpayer money: Delhi govt

Home minister Ashish Sood said official records showed that Arvind Kejriwal got four iPhones between 2015 and 2022

Delhi home minister Ashish Sood on Thursday alleged that senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders, including former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, purchased luxury mobile phones using public money—repeatedly exceeding the financial caps set for government functionaries and flouting procurement norms.

Home minister Ashish Sood. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

At a press conference held at the Delhi Secretariat, Sood said official records showed that Kejriwal had acquired four iPhones between 2015 and 2022, all of which breached the ₹50,000 purchase cap fixed for the chief minister. These included an iPhone 6s Plus bought in December 2015 for ₹81,000, an iPhone 7 Plus in 2017 for ₹69,000, an iPhone 12 Pro Max in 2020 for ₹1,39,900, and an iPhone 13 Pro Max in July 2022 for ₹1,63,900.

“Each of these phones far exceeded the officially sanctioned limit. In every instance, internal notes were moved to relax the ₹50,000 cap and allow these purchases,” Sood alleged, adding that such actions indicated a pattern of entitlement and misuse of taxpayer money.

He further claimed that Sisodia followed a similar trajectory. According to Sood, the former education minister purchased multiple high-end devices, including a Samsung Galaxy S8 in 2017 for ₹59,899, another in 2018 for ₹49,000, and a phone with accessories for ₹1.12 lakh in 2019. This was followed by an iPhone 12 Pro Max in 2021 for ₹1.66 lakh, and an iPhone 13 Pro Max in October 2022 for ₹1.37 lakh.

“These were not isolated purchases. They bought expensive phones year after year, clearly beyond the ₹45,000 cap applicable for ministers. This is a serious financial irregularity,” the home minister said.

Sood also named current minister Atishi, alleging that she purchased a phone worth ₹1,27,999 in 2023. He claimed this amounted to nearly triple the permissible limit for ministers and reflected a continued disregard for financial propriety.

“The AAP leadership claimed to have sacrificed careers and comforts for the sake of public service. But what we are seeing is the use of public funds for private luxury. These were phones worth ₹1.5 to ₹2 lakh, paid for by the exchequer,” Sood said.

Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor added that many AAP ministers had failed to return their government-issued phones after leaving office, which he said violated official rules and amounted to a misuse of government property. “Phones procured by the General Administration Department must be returned after demitting office. Most of these phones have not been returned,” Kapoor said.

In response, the Aam Aadmi Party called the allegations politically motivated and an attempt to deflect from the BJP’s own governance failures. “False claims of corruption are being used as a smokescreen to sabotage public welfare schemes,” the party said, listing achievements such as free electricity and water, mohalla clinics, and the Pink Ticket scheme for women.

Delhi chief minister Rekha Gupta posted on X that the matter would be thoroughly investigated.