NEW DELHI: The Business Advisory Committee of the Delhi Assembly on Friday adopted a resolution on the authenticity of ‘Phansi Ghar’, which will likely be placed before the House during the Winter Session commencing January 5. The Committee of Privileges earlier examined the matter and called former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, his then-deputy Manish Sisodia, ex-Assembly speaker Ram Niwas Goel and his then-deputy Rakhi Birla to present their version on the matter. However, the panel noted during the inquiry that despite being given two opportunities, the four leaders failed to appear before it.
The matter was subsequently taken up by the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) to determine the procedural course for its consideration by the House, a source said. The BAC on Friday adopted a resolution, which shall be laid before the House during the Winter Session scheduled to be held from January 5 to January 8.
The BAC meeting was attended by Speaker Vijender Gupta, the chairman of the panel, Deputy Speaker Mohan Singh Bisht, Abhay Verma, Jitender Mahajan, Om Prakash Sharma and Som Dutt. The ‘Phansi Ghar’ (execution room) row is a dispute between the AAP and the BJP over a renovated section in the Delhi Assembly, which the AAP claims to be a British-era gallows chamber, while the BJP claims it was a tiffin room.
After the BJP came to power in Delhi in February last year, Speaker Vijender Gupta told the House that the British-era structure, which was renovated and inaugurated in 2022 by then chief minister Kejriwal as part of a ‘Phansi Ghar’, was actually a ‘tiffin room’.
Showing a 1912 map of the Assembly complex, Gupta said there were no documents or evidence indicating that the space was used for executions, and referred the matter to the Committee of Privileges for examination. Chief Minister Rekha Gupta had alleged that Kejriwal, in a calculated attempt to gain public sympathy, had arbitrarily declared a portion of the Assembly premises as a gallows site without any documentary evidence or historical authenticity.
“Kejriwal has always engaged in calculated political theatrics, every gesture, and statement scripted to serve a political objective,” she said. The actual site of the old Delhi jail, where executions took place, was located at what is now Maulana Azad Medical College, the chief minister said citing historical records.