Terming Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal a man in “a hurry to perform,” former Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung said Mr Kejriwal may face “criminal charges” over irregularities found by the Shunglu Committee.
The former L-G constituted the committee to investigate alleged irregularities in administrative decisions taken by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government.
Mr. Jung told India Today TV that the committee found the creation of a “secret unit” like a “counter IB” for suspected spying.
He said some appointments by Mr. Kejriwal, like that of Nikunj Aggarwal, a relative of Mr. Kejriwal's wife, as the OSD to Health Minister Satyendar Jain smacked of “nepotism and gross favouritism.”
The report, which is yet to be made public, can be accessed through the Right to Information Act, Mr. Jung said. When contacted, both the party and the government declined to comment on the former L-G’s comments.
Mr. Jung also spoke about the AAP government’s appointment of Mr. Jain’s daughter, Saumya, as an “advisor” to its mohalla clinics project
He said Saumya’s appointment and those made by Delhi Commission for Women Chairperson Swati Maliwal amounted to “cheating, nepotism and favouritism” and FIRs had been registered.
“Jain made an incorrect statement that she (Saumya) was not paid. Fact is she was paid but it was returned. An FIR has also been registered in the case of Waqf board,” he said adding that the Central Bureau of Investigation had filed an FIR on the setting up of the “secret unit.”
‘Secret unit set up’
“No state government can set up a counter IB like this,” Mr. Jung said. Asked if Mr. Kejriwal could face criminal charges, “That is possible. There are cases that are being investigated and should the cases come to fruition and should the court find substance in the charge sheets then there is problem.”
In the headlines on more than one occasion for run-ins with the AAP government, Mr. Jung said Mr. Kejriwal’s “exuberance, inexperience and the fact that he had a brute majority perhaps contributed to his confronting attitude.”
He said he acted against Mr. Kejriwal's “tendencies to play with the constitution and interpret it in a manner which he thought was correct but he deemed as wrong” even as he maintained that the personal relationship between them was extremely cordial.
