NEW DELHI: Accusing the Delhi government of "acting in panic" over the April 11 NGT order and ordering a sealing drive leading to violence in Mayapuri, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the issue is not under the Centre's purview as is being alleged by the AAP dispensation.
Around 14 officials, including an assistant commissioner of police, were injured after clashes broke out between security personnel and local scrap dealers during a sealing drive in west Delhi's Mayapuri area on April 13, leading to a political slugfest between the ruling AAP and the BJP.
"They (AAP) did not do anything for the past five years. Now, with the NGT saying that officials will be jailed, they went into panic mode and did something illegal. There was a lack of responsibility from the Delhi government. They did not even stop to see who was allowed and who wasn't. The directions of the NGT was for the Delhi government, not for the centre," Puri said.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on April 13 had shared a video on Twitter purportedly showing security personnel resorting to stone pelting, which Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal dubbed as "extremely shameful".
A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel had directed the chief secretary and the chairman and member secretary, Delhi Pollution Control Committee, to respond why they should not be jailed and prosecuted if illegal activities were not stopped and people kept suffering on account of illegal activities.
The green panel has also ordered the officials to appear before it on May 3 with a compliance report.
"When the Model Code of Conduct is in place there should be no such activity that could lead to civil unrest or displacement," said Puri.