AAP on Friday issued showcause notices to rebel leaders Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav for alleged anti-party activities, taking final steps towards their expulsion, even as Yadav questioned the move saying it was against the “principle of natural justice.”
AAP spokesperson Deepak Bajpai said separate notices have been issued to Yadav, Bhushan, Anand Kumar and Ajit Jha, detailing out a list of charges against them, backed with “evidence”. “They have been asked to respond to it in two days. We have mailed them as well as given a copy by hand,” Bajpai said.
The rebel leaders, however, claimed they were yet to receive any notice. The party had earlier referred their cases to the Disciplinary Committee, after the leaders organised a Swaraj Samvad. Questioning the move, Yadav said the move was against the “principle of natural justice” as those who had levelled allegations against them were part of the disciplinary panel.
Yadav also claimed that in a telephonic conversation, the National Disciplinary Committee chairman Dinesh Waghela had told him that the panel is yet to take up the matter.
His remarks came even as AAP leader Ashutosh said that a chargesheet is being readied and notice will soon be served to the rebel leaders.
“I am surprised that a person (Ashutosh), who is not a member of the committee, is issuing the statement. On Thursday, I called Dinesh Waghela asking him about the status of the inquiry against us. He said he was in Goa and there was still no reference of the committee yet. I also conveyed to him that this was against the principle of natural justice as two members of the Disciplinary Committee had levelled allegations against me and Prashant,” Yadav said, adding, “If a judge is directly or even indirectly related to a case, then he recuses himself from that particular case. How can a complainant itself be a judgeIJ”
Bhushan, Yadav, Kumar and Jha were dropped from top panels of the party at the National Council meeting last month. On Wednesday, the party’s Political Affairs Committee (PAC) had referred their case to the National Disciplinary Committee.