Shortly after the Delhi High Court refused to stay summons issued recently by the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) to senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Kumar Vishwas, the Delhi Government on Friday issued a show cause notice to DCW chairperson Barkha Singh questioning her “abuse of power”.
The summons were issued earlier this month to Mr. Vishwas after a woman AAP volunteer accused him of damaging her reputation by not denying allegations regarding his illicit relations with her.
Ms. Singh, a former Congress MLA due to retire as the DCW chairperson in July this year, has been asked to file her reply to the notice within three days. The notice said the manner in which the summons were issued was outside the Commission’s jurisdiction.
The notice was issued reportedly on a complaint made by DCW member Juhi Khan. It said Ms. Singh had abused her position as the chairperson in such a manner that “you have rendered your continuance in office detrimental to the public interest”.
The notice took exception to Ms. Singh holding a press conference on the issue on May 5, even though there was no provision in the Commission’s complaint handling policy to hold public press conference in a matter pending before it for decision.
