Cases against MLAS: CM slams Baijal for seeking report on probe

NEW DELHI: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday criticised Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal for allegedly asking police commissioner Amulya Patnaik to submit a report on the police’s “lacklustre investigations” in cases against AAP MLAS.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) termed the move as “shameful”.

In the last few months, several AAP MLAS were acquitted by the trial courts, which had rapped Delhi Police for not being able to establish their claims.

Earlier this month, a court had discharged AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan in a 2010 case in which he was accused of threatening government officials.

“Did L-G ask for similar report in rape cases and cases of crime against women? No. L-G and Centre’s BJP government owe an answer to people of Delhi as to why police was forced to file these frivolous cases against AAP leaders and why was police’s time wasted,” Kejriwal said in a tweet on Thursday morning.

The CM’S reaction came after an order, issued purportedly by the L-G’S special secretary R N Sharma seeking a report from the police commissioner on the matter, was circulated by AAP leaders on social media.

The L-G office did not respond to the allegations despite several calls and text messages.

Criticising the L-G office’s move, AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said undue pressure was being exerted on the police to frame AAP MLAS.

“It has now exposed the BJP’S L-G, that he was misusing the police to harass party MLAS and make fake cases against them,” he said.

Bharadwaj said AAP was expecting the L-G to write to the police commissioner and enquire how i nnocents were being framed. But to the party’s “utter surprise”, the L-G has written a letter to the police commissioner, asking how and why the MLAS were getting acquitted and how cases against them were being quashed one by one, he said.

“The L-G has asked for a report from the police within one week regarding how the MLAS have been proved to be innocent. This is very unfortunate that the L-G, who holds a constitutional post, is worried about how CM Arvind Kejriwal, deputy CM Manish Sisodia, Amanatullah Khan, Kailash Gahlot, Naresh Balyan and Manoj Kumar were acquitted in courts, whereas the L-G wanted them to be behind bars,” Bharadwaj said.