Delhi Minister held for holding ‘fake’ degrees

File photo of Delhi Law Minister Jitendra Singh Tomar.

The arrest of Delhi Law Minister Jitender Singh Tomar on Tuesday for allegedly submitting fake degrees quickly turned into another ugly episode of a long-running battle between the Aam Aadmi Party government in the State and the Centre for what is seen as de facto control over the national capital.

Mr. Tomar, who was remanded in police custody for four days, resigned on moral grounds soon after the party’s senior functionaries, including Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, met at his residence.

The AAP said the arrest was an act of political vendetta by the Centre, which wanted to teach the party “a lesson”.

“This arrest is illegal. There is an Emergency-like situation. Maybe, it is an attempt to teach the AAP a lesson,” Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said.

A senior official said the AAP government would support Mr. Tomar till the court delivered its verdict in the case. “We will continue to support him till the judgment is delivered; the only possibility in terms of severing ties with him will depend on his conviction,” he said.

Mr. Tomar was arrested from his residence around 6 a.m. by 35 policemen led by an Assistant Commissioner of Police, in what the Delhi government alleged was “a disproportionate show of strength”, and taken to a police station for questioning.

Police charge

Police sources said a first information report against Mr. Tomar was converted into a criminal case late on Monday night, and he was booked for cheating, forgery, forgery with purpose of cheating and criminal conspiracy.

“We converted a complaint received from the Delhi Bar Council on May 11, served him a notice after 26 days of investigation. Police teams travelled to Awadh University in Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, and Tilka Manjhi University in Bhagalpur, Bihar, and discovered that Mr. Tomar’s name did not figure in their records,” a senior police officer said.

The arrest comes in the backdrop of a tussle to wrest control of the State’s Anti-Corruption Branch. Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung appointed a Joint Commissioner of the Delhi Police, M.K. Meena, as its head on Monday, though Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had selected S.S. Yadav for the post.