A court here was told on Saturday that the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government had spent over Rs. 42 lakh for advertisements in 20 newspapers, which allegedly misled people by claiming that municipal corporations are not under the State control.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Munish Markan was informed by the petitioner that in an RTI reply, the government had admitted that a total expense of Rs. 42,01,405 was incurred in giving advertisements to the newspapers on October 30, 2015.
Counsel for complainant Brijesh Shukla argued that public money was wasted for “spreading lies” and people were “misled.”
The court fixed October 18 for hearing further arguments on the complaint.
The complaint claimed that Mr. Kejriwal had come out with full-page advertisements in newspapers in October last, saying there were misunderstandings regarding a strike by MCD employees and he wanted to make it clear that it was wrong to say that the corporations came under the Delhi government.
The complainant sought direction to the Station House Officer of Karawal Nagar police station in North East Delhi to register an FIR against Mr. Kejriwal under IPC Section 406 (criminal breach of trust).
