PMO, NAJEEB JUNG PLANNING TO ARREST SISODIA: KEJRIWAL
NEW DELHI: The Prime Minister’s Office and Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung are planning to arrest Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Monday.
Referring to the Shunglu committee set up to probe Delhi government’s decisions, Kejriwal told in a press conference as well as tweeted: “PMO/LG target Manish through Shunglu. Plan to arrest Manish.”
“Before the Punjab polls, Sisodia may likely be arrested. Till now 14 AAP MLAS have been arrested by Delhi Police in different allegations, but the court several times flayed the Delhi Police owing to wrong arresting,” said Kejriwal.
The Shunglu Committee, which was formed by LG Najeeb Jung to examine over 400 files on decisions taken by the AAP regime, submitted its report to the LG office on Sunday.
Sources said that the LG’S office will examine the three-member committee’s report and take a final call accordingly on all files pertaining to decisions taken by the Kejriwal government since it was formed.
Jung had formed the committee chaired by former CAG V K Shunglu on August 30 and former Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami and ex-chief vigilance commissioner Pradeep Kumar are also its members.
In October, Jung had given the committee a six-week extension and rejected the city government’s request to dissolve the panel, saying that the “truth hidden behind these files” must come out.
Also, Jung had wondered why the AAP government was “afraid” of the truth coming out if everything, as claimed by the AAP ministers, is as per rule. The Delhi Cabinet had twice termed the three-member Shunglu Committee which was looking into the files unconstitutional.
There is no provision in the Constitution, or in any statute or rule, which mandates setting up of an “external committee” to inquire into ongoing projects of public welfare, question officers and “threaten” to recommend administrative and criminal action against them.
The Delhi government had requested Jung to return all files of the government saying “various important works are being affected” due to this. “The Committee has created a dangerous climate of fear and uncertainty among the bureaucracy, thus threatening to derail the government functioning in its entirety, noted the Cabinet,” Sisodia said. “We have requested the LG to dissolve the committee as the Lieutenant Governor has no power. The jurisdiction of LG is well defined under Article 239AA of Constitution of India, the GNCTD Act, 1991, and the rules framed under the Act,” he said. Kejriwal pointed out that Shunglu was facing charges of malpractices in Delhi Public School (DPS). “Will PMO save Shunglu in return?
“Complaints of malpractices by Shunglu in DPS lying pending with LG for more than 18 months,” he added.