Unhappy Lt Governor Anil Baijal seeks report from Delhi Police chief
NEW DELHI: With cases filed against some Aam Aadmi Part (AAP) MLAs collapsing in the court, Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal is apparently unhappy at the Delhi Police’s “lacklustre” investigations and has sought a report from the police brass. The trigger for Baijal’s missive is the discharge of AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan on May 3 in a 2010 case in which he was accused of threatening and obstructing labour department officials from rescuing child labourers in Jamia Nagar.
Special Secretary R N Sharma, on behalf of the LG, wrote a letter to Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik on May 9, seeking a reply within a week. The letter states, “Hon’ble Lt. Governor, Delhi has desired that the matter may be looked into and a report along with the court order be sent, within a week, to this Secretariat with respect to the investigation, trial etc., especially with reference of the trial court regarding lacklustre choreographed charge sheet.”
Acquitting Khan, the court had observed that “the time taken by the police to investigate the case proved to be fatal to the case of the prosecution” and that the probe was done in a “belated, lethargic and lackadaisical manner”. The court further said the police had filed a “well-choreographed charge sheet”.
The LG has reportedly also asked for a detailed report on six other cases involving Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, Naresh Baliyan, Manoj Kumar, Ashish Khetan and Kailash Gehlot.
They were facing cases related to defacement of public property, violation of model code of conduct, extortion etc. and were discharged by the court over the past two months. Repeated calls and messages to the LG’s office by The New Indian Express went unanswered. AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said, “It’s strange that the LG is uncomfortable because of the fact that AAP MLAs are getting discharge by the court of law. This also proves that the Central government is using the office of Delhi LG and the Delhi Police for witch-hunting.”