Delhi Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash charged Aam Aadmi Party MLAs with staging a “premeditated attack” on him during a late night meeting at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence on Monday. The Delhi Police have registered an FIR against AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan and 11 other MLAs based on Mr. Prakash’s complaint.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the Ministry had sought a report on the incident from the Lieutenant-Governor. Responding to the incident on Twitter, Mr. Singh said he was pained. “Civil servants should be allowed to work with dignity and without fear. Justice will be done. A delegation of IAS DANICS [Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Civil Service] & Subordinate Services of Delhi Government met me today and apprised me of the prevailing situation,” he tweeted.
All three Delhi government staff associations have said they will henceforth engage in only written communication with the AAP administration. Describing the Chief Secretary’s charge as “ludicrous” and made at the BJP’s behest, the AAP accused the Home Minister of having “already delivered his verdict” without hearing “the other side.”
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In his police complaint, Mr. Prakash said he was summoned to Mr. Kejriwal’s residence at midnight to discuss the difficulty in releasing advertisements to mark the AAP’s three years in power. The assault happened in the presence of the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and 11 other MLAs, with the intention to criminally intimidate and deter him from discharging his lawful duty.
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However, the AAP said the meeting was called to discuss the reasons why about 2.5 lakh families had not been able to get their rations under the PDS last month due to faulty implementation of Aadhaar. “CS [the Chief Secretary] refused to answer questions saying he was not answerable to MLAs and CM and that he was answerable only to [the] LG [Lieutenant-Governor]. He even used bad language against some MLAs and left without answering any questions,” an AAP statement read.
At the Delhi Secretariat on Tuesday afternoon, officials protested the assault on Mr. Prakash. Environment Minister Imran Hussain and AAP leader Ashish Khetan alleged that they were roughed up by the protesting officials.
Chief spokesperson for the Delhi Police Deependra Pathak said, “We have registered two separate cases on the complaints submitted by the Chief Secretary and an AAP MLA [Imran Hussain]. The cases are under investigation.”
Following Mr. Prakash’s complaint, an FIR was registered under Sections 120B (criminal conspiracy), 186 (obstructing a public servant from performing his duties), 353 (assault on a public servant), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 342 (wrongful restraint) 506 (2) (criminal intimidation) and 34 (common intention) at the Civil Lines police station.
Mr. Prakash said that during the meeting, Mr. Khan and another MLA started hitting him without any provocation. Stating that the MLAs landed several blows on his head and temple, Mr. Prakash said he managed to get out of the room and leave the CM’s residence in his official car.
At a press conference on Tuesday evening, Mr. Sisodia said the allegation was “baseless”.