Will challenge L-G’s ₹97 cr order on ads in court: Kejri

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal termed as “wrong” Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal’s order to recover ₹97 crore from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for allegedly spent on advertisements and said it will be challenged in the court.

The chief minister’s remark came after Baijal had last month directed chief secretary MM Kutty to recover ₹97 crore from the AAP that was allegedly “splurged” by the Delhi government on advertisements in violation of the Supreme Court guidelines. “The L-G’s order is totally wrong. We will challenge it in the court,” Kejriwal said. He also sought reasons behind “targeting” of the AAP government.

The L-G had also ordered an inquiry into the spendings on advertisements projecting Kejriwal and his party, and asked Kutty to fix responsibility.

“The first logic (behind the L-G’s order) was that my government gave advertisements outside Delhi. Several state governments — Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh — give advertisements in newspapers in Delhi. Why no such an order for them? Why only my government is being targeted?” Kejriwal asked. He said that the second reason given in the L-G’s order was that the advertisements carried his photos in violation of the rules.

“Photos of chief minister are given in advertisements of a state government, which is not the violation of the Supreme Court’s order,” Kejriwal said.

Last year, on the direction of the Supreme Court, the information and broadcasting ministry had formed a three-member committee, headed by former chief election commissioner BB Tandon, to address issues related to content regulation in government advertising.

In its report, the comptroller and auditor general (CAG) had said that the AAP government had spent ₹29 crore in releasing advertisements outside Delhi, which was “beyond” its responsibility.