Delhi Congress seeks LG Anil Baijal's nod to prosecute Arvind Kejriwal

NEW DELHI: The Delhi unit of Congress has sought the sanction of Lt Governor Anil Baijal for initiating prosecution against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for "gross abuse of power" by the AAP government, as pointed out by the Shunglu Committee.

The Congress's city unit chief Ajay Maken today said the panel has unearthed many serious cases of corruption and irregularities against the Kejriwal government.

"We want to lodge an FIR against Kejriwal with the ACB, but under the Prevention of Corruption Act, we need to get a sanction from the LG before initiating prosecution. So, we have sought it," he said at a press conference here.

The move by the Congress may spell fresh trouble for the ruling AAP and its chief Kejriwal, who was yesterday accused by his party colleague and MLA Kapil Mishra of accepting unaccounted Rs 2 crore from a minister.

In a letter to the Lt Governor, Maken says, "After pursuing the said (committee) report, I requested the Commissioner of Police, Delhi to register an FIR under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act against Arvind Kejriwal and carry out necessary investigation."

"Since, despite passage of more than three weeks no action was taken against the accused persons, hence, on May 7, I again moved a representation before the ACB, along with a copy to the Joint Commissioner of Police, ACB."

The committee, headed by former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) V K Shunglu, examined 404 files pertaining to various decisions taken by the AAP government.

The panel has flagged decisions, including the allotment of land to the AAP for its office, appointment of Health Minister Satyendra Jain's daughter as "mission director" of Delhi State Health Mission and a number of purported AAP functionaries as "advisors".

In the wake of the stunning allegation made by Mishra, who was sacked as the Water Minister on May 6, Maken had yesterday also demanded the resignation of Kejriwal, claiming the AAP had "lost its anti-corruption plank".

The AAP has been very vocal about the alleged water tanker scam, which it claims was "started during the Sheila Dikshit dispensation".

However, responding to reporters' query on her role in it, the Congress sought to defend the former Delhi chief minister, with Maken saying, "Sheila Dikshit has no involvement in it."

"AAP was formed on three basic premises of fight against corruption, internal democracy and Lokpal. They have lost all these premises," he said.

"And, now this new allegation against Kejriwal has been levelled by someone from his own party (Mishra) and not any outsider," Maken said.