PANAJI: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today accused the BJP-led government in Goa of pressuring election officials to file an FIR against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with his bribery remarks.
The Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) in Mapusa has issued a notice to Mr Kejriwal, who is also the AAP national convener, on a complaint filed against him for his bribery remarks made during the Goa assembly polls held last year.
The next hearing in the case is due on February 8.
The complaint was lodged by local Election Commission officials with the police in Mapusa town, 9km from Panaji.
Goa AAP convener Elvis Gomes told reporters that election officials had filed the FIR against Mr Kejriwal under pressure from the BJP-led government.
He recalled the Election Commission of India (ECI) had issued directives to its local officials in this regard.
“We (AAP) had filed a petition against the directives before the Delhi High Court, which is still being heard. During a hearing in November last year, the lawyer representing the ECI had submitted that an FIR had already been filed against Mr Kejriwal,” Mr Gomes said.
“But when we sought information under the Right To Information Act, we got the reply that none of the police stations has filed the FIR. At least till January no FIR had been filed,” he said.
On February 2, when the petition came up for hearing in the high court, AAP submitted the information obtained under the RTI Act, the leader said.
“The lawyer who had claimed that an FIR has been filed against Mr Kejriwal withdrew his statement. The next hearing in the matter will be held on February 26,” Mr Gomes said.
It is unfortunate that the same day (February 2), when a hearing took place in the Delhi High Court, the Goa government pressured election officials to file an FIR against him in the Mapusa court,” he added.
Mr Gomes said attempts were being made to derail the development and pro-people programmes undertaken in Delhi by the Arvind Kejriwal government.
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court today allowed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s plea calling for two DDCA documents in connection with a defamation suit filed against him by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
Referring to one of Jaitley’s cross-examination sessions on Kejriwal’s behalf, the court said questions put to the Union minister were not relevant to the case and the questioners should have restrained themselves from putting them.
The court said it was not clear in which direction the cross examination was proceeding.
Justice Manmohan also made it clear that the court was allowing Kejriwal’s plea to summon only two documents of February 10, 2003 and April 6, 2003, with which Jaitley can be confronted during his cross-examination.
Jaitley’s cross examination in the suit is going on before a joint registrar who has directed Kejriwal to wind up the cross examination on February 12 itself.
The high court, however, declined Kejriwal’s plea to summon the entire minutes of meetings of the cricket body between 1999 and 2013, when Jaitley was president of the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA).
The court said it cannot understand how the minutes of were relevant to this defamation suit against Kejriwal. Moreover, no grounds were given by the chief minister for summoning the details.
Regarding the documents which have been allowed to be summoned, the court asked Kejriwal to file a proper application in two days.
The high court’s order came on Kejriwal’s appeal challenging the joint registrar’s order dismissing his plea to summon the minutes of meeting of DDCA and the other two documents.
The instant appeal has been moved by the chief minister in the Rs 10 crore defamation case filed by Jaitley against him and five other Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders — Raghav Chadha, Kumar Vishwas, Ashutosh, Sanjay Singh and Deepak Bajpai — for accusing the BJP leader of corruption when he was DDCA president.
Not inviting Arvind Kejriwal to the inauguration of the Magenta line on December 25, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders were invited, along with the AAP government’s spat with the Delhi Lt Governor, has been the party’s basis for seeking donations, in the past two days.
The party’s outreach team has sent out an email to its donors, seeking donations — a minimum of Rs 100 to express outrage over the CM Kejriwal’s non-invitation for the Metro event, in spite of the Delhi government being an equal partner in the DMRC.
In the email, the party asked volunteers to “unite and convert every ounce of it into a powerful force” through a minimum donation of Rs 100. “Ever since we found that the Delhi CM was not invited for the inauguration of Magenta Line of the Metro, we got emails, tweets, posts pouring outrage…. Let’s convert every ounce of outrage into a powerful force…. created by our collective donations,” read the email. A party official said over 700 volunteers made donations on Wednesday after the email.
The email sought donations with regard to the doorstep delivery scheme, asked, “Why should L-G block a bill as simple as doorstep delivery to citizens.”
NEW DELHI: In the middle of a bitter tussle for power with Lieutenant Governor that had reached the Supreme Court, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday received unusual support from several opposition parties in the Rajya Sabha. Leaders of four parties called for an end to the turf war in Delhi, with the Samajwadi Party accusing the centre’s nominee of treating the Chief Minister like a peon.
“The Delhi government has no powers. The Lieutenant Governor treats Delhi’s Chief Minister like a chaparasi (peon). This is an insult to the Chief Minister,” Samajwadi Party’s Naresh Agarwal told the Rajya Sabha, seeking more powers for the Aam Aadmi Party government in the national capital.
The Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party has repeatedly accused Lieutenant Governors – first Najeeb Jung and then his successor Anil Baijal — of overstepping their limits and blocking the Delhi government’s moves on the orders of the BJP-led Central Government. A petition filed by Chief Minister Kejriwal is also pending before the Supreme Court’s Constitution Bench.
Arvind Kejriwal has blamed the Lt Governor for trying to block initiatives taken by the elected government on several occasions. Just this week, Mr Kejriwal had accused Lt Governor Anil Baijal for vetoing his plan to start home delivery of public services such as birth certificates and ration cards to residents.
The Samajwadi Party leader had come to the AAP government’s defence in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, when during a debate on regularizing unauthorized constructions in Delhi, Union Minister Vijay Goel blamed the elected government for failing to act against illegal constructions and asked the government to dismiss the elected government.
The Aam Aadmi Party does not have a seat in the Rajya Sabha yet. That is set to change when elections are held for three Rajya Sabha seats from Delhi next month.
Mr Agarwal, whose concerns were later echoed by speakers from the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress and two of her bitter rivals, CPI and the CPM, countered attacks on the elected government.
But it is Delhi’s three municipal corporations, where the BJP is in power, that are mandated to check unauthorized constructions, Mr Agarwal said, rebutting Union Minister Goel, also a BJP leader from Delhi. “In any case, you can level allegations against the Delhi government when it has some power,” he asserted.
With several lawmakers seeking an end to the turf war in Delhi, Deputy Chairman PJ Kurian later asked Union Urban Development Minister Hardee Singh Puri to do something about it.
The former diplomat accepted the suggestion, promising to try to broker peace between the Chief Minister and Lieutenant Governor but conceded that it was not going to be easy.
“In four decades of public life, I have faced many challenges. I tried to negotiate with terrorists. This is going to be a difficult one, but I accept your challenge and I will try and negotiate,” the minister told the House.
New Delhi: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said his government is not against private hospitals, but can’t maintain silence on their inhuman criminal negligence.
His remarks came in the wake of protest staged on Saturday by the employees of Max Hospital in Shalimar Bagh area of north Delhi after the government on Friday cancelled its licence with immediate effect for erroneously declaring a newborn dead.
“Delhi government is not against private hospitals and is fully aware of their importance. But Max hospital left us with no option other than to take action. This is not happened first time. Such kind of erronous act was done by the hospital on many occasions in the past too,” Kejriwal said at a public gathering in west Delhi’s Mundka.
“Our conscience would have pricked us. Had we remained silent on such inhuman criminal negligence? Doctors are saviours and we salute the work they do. Their hard work is admirable. But, if any hospital does wrong with people, we will not spare it and maintain silence. We will take action.”
The chief minister said that he had been informed about the corporate owned private hospitals who exploit their own doctors and do not give their salaries on time.
He also slammed Bharatiya Janata Party Delhi state President Manoj Tiwari for supporting Max hospital and opposing Delhi Government’s decision to cancel its license.
A baby boy was declared dead by Max Hospital on November 30 and handed over to the parents in a plastic bag, along with its still-born sister. However, the baby started moving while being taken for burial. The baby was then admitted in a clinic in Pitampura, but died on Wednesday.
As Delhi battles dense smog and pollution aggravated by stubble-burning in neighbouring agrarian states, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is fixing up meetings with his Haryana and Punjab counterparts on Twitter.
After scheduling a Wednesday meeting with Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar in Chandigarh, on Tuesday morning Kejriwal tweet-invited Punjab chief minister Capt Amrinder Singh to consider his request in “collective interest”. “Sir, I am coming to Chandigarh on Wed to meet Haryana CM. Would be grateful if u cud spare sometime to meet me. It is in collective interest (sic),” tweeted Kejriwal.
On Monday, a very crucial meeting between Kejriwal and Khattar remained in limbo even after “I’m ready” response from both the parties.
“Khattar ji called. He is in Del till tomo. Says he is v busy n can’t meet me in Del. He has asked me to come to Chandigarh on Wed. I look forward to meeting him in Chandigarh on Wed (sic),” Kejriwal had tweeted on Monday night.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had asked Kejriwal what steps he has taken to end stubble burning by farmers in areas near the national capital as air pollution peaked to alarming levels.
Kejriwal last week had sought a meeting with counterparts from Haryana and Punjab to discuss ways to manage the worsening air pollution in Delhi and the neighbouring states.
While Khattar said today he was open to meet Kejriwal “anytime anywhere” to find a solution to the issue, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh last week said the situation warranted Centre’s intervention as it has inter-state implications.
The practice of burning of crop residue by farmers of the two states have been blamed for the toxic smog enveloping the region during the winter season every year.
In a letter to Kejriwal, Khattar said some 40,000 families cultivate around 40,000 hectares in Delhi. “What steps have been taken to keep them from stubble burning?”.
“I write this in response to your letter dated November 8. I believe no single person, organisation or government can improve the quality of air. Such collective problems require everyone to do their bit. And more importantly, a strong mechanism to enhance the outcome of such constructive steps,” Khattar told Kejriwal in the letter dated November 10.
Quoting from Rabindranath Tagore’s poem, ‘Where The Mind Is Without Fear’, he said the bedrock of such a mechanism is a “mindset” where “words come out from the depth of truth”.
“Unfortunately, your letter contains no hint of such a mindset. In fact, your reference to the helplessness of farmers in Punjab and Haryana in stubble burning betrays an inability to rise above short-term electoral interests,” he said.
He cited “publicly available satellite imagery data” and said they showed substantial reduction in stubble burning cases and fires from 2014 onwards in Haryana.
Khattar said he was “likely” to be in Delhi on November 13 and 14. “You may feel free to call me to fine tune a mutually convenient date, time and venue for the meeting.”
A thick blanket of smog, mainly caused by stubble burning, has enveloped parts of Punjab, Haryana and Delhi, severely affecting normal life and troubling people in breathing.
NEW DELHI: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal will write letters to lakhs of citizens to establish direct contact with them. The CM will ask people to share their problems via email or phone so that they can effectively be addressed.
Kejriwal has already written to the Delhi Electricity Board pensioners and parents of kids who have got admissions through EWS category, asking them about the problems they are facing.In the coming days, Kejriwal will write to more than 5 lakh people. Till now, he has written to around 40,000 people.
A senior officer in the CMO said that after writing 5 lakh letters, Kejriwal may consider writing to students getting scholarships in the second phase.
