Court acquits Delhi CM, dy CM, others in chief secy assault case
NEW DELHI A Delhi court on Wednesday discharged Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, and nine other Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAS in the connection with the case of assault on former chief secretary Anshu Prakash back in 2018.
The court, however, framed charges against AAP MLAS Prakash Jarwal and Amanatullah Khan under Sections 186, 353, and other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Metropolitan Magistrate Sachin Gupta passed the order on Wednesday.
A detailed order, however, is still awaited.
In a press briefing on Wednesday, Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia referred to the court verdict and called the day one of victory “of justice and truth”.
“The court said that all alleto gations in the matter were false and baseless,” Sisodia said while speaking to reporters. “The chief minister (Kejriwal) was acquitted today in that false case.”
Sisodia reiterated his claim that the case was just a ‘conspiracy’ to bring down Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.
“We had been saying that the allegations were false,” he said. “It was a conspiracy hatched against the chief minister.”
Kejirwal took to twitter saying “Satyamev jayate “(truth has won) following the court decision.
“It is a day of victory of justice and truth. The court said that all allegations were false and baseless. CM has been acquitted today in that false case. We had been saying from day one that allegations re false,” Sisodia said at an online press conference.”
It was a conspiracy hatched by PM Modi and Centre government led by BJP and the fake case was lodged on their instructions,” he charged.
“This is the first incident when an elected PM has tried derail the government of an elected chief minister in this manner. Public has elected both governments, you should not be busy in conspiracies and spying on opposition governments. PM and BJP should apologise to the countrymen for this,” he added.
Anshu Prakash, then the chief secretary of Delhi, had alleged he was assaulted during a meeting at the chief minister’s residence on February 19, 2018, following which a first information report (FIR) was lodged against Kejriwal, Sisodia, and 11 other AAP MLAS.
Prakash had claimed that he was called for a midnight meeting to discuss the release of the party’s advertisements related to the government completing three years in Delhi, and manhandled and assaulted during the course of the meeting.
The chief minister, the deputy chief minister, and the other AAP MLAS denied any wrongdoing in connection with the incident.