NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Tuesday summoned Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and 11 other Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs on October 25, in the case pertaining to the alleged assault on Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal took cognizance of the charge sheet filed by Delhi Police last month in the case.Responding to the development, AAP said this was a conspiracy by the BJP and like other fake cases, this would also fall flat in court.
AAP convenor Kejriwal and others MLAs were slapped with 13 different Sections of the IPC, including hurting a public servant, obstructing a public servant and wrongful confinement, among others. Kejriwal has been accused of beating up Anshu Prakash at his residence along with Sisodia and 11 other MLAs on the midnight of February 19.
The incident resulted in a chain reaction where IAS associations from across the nation came out to protest the alleged assault on the bureaucrat. Further, officers working in the Delhi government went on an unannounced ‘strike’ where senior bureaucrats refused to attend meetings called by ministers.In turn, Kejriwal staged a protest at the residence of Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal, along with of his Cabinet colleagues, demanding an end to the ‘strike’ by officers.
Prakash had alleged that he was thrashed by Amanatullah Khan and Prakash Jarwal, who were arrested the next day and sent to judicial custody. The two AAP leaders were later granted bail by the Delhi High Court.
On February 23, a police team examined the CCTV system installed at the CM’s residence in Civil Lines area and seized the hard disk connected to the system for investigation. Last month, the AAP accused the police of deliberately leaking the contents to the media in order to tarnish Kejriwal’s image.
‘Insecure’ Centre troubling Delhi: AAP
The AAP said the move betrayed the Centre’s nervousness.
“This pro-people agenda of the Delhi government is making Narendra Modi’s central government insecure. During the last three-and-a-half years, the Modi government has left no stone unturned in troubling our government... AAP assures the people of Delhi that such conspiracies will not deter the party’s resolve of working tirelessly for the residents of Delhi,” the party said in a statement.