Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Wednesday charged that the lokayukta has gone beyond his jurisdiction in indicting her for alleged misuse of public funds on advertisements ahead of last Assembly polls and met President Pranab Mukherjee to explain her position.
“Whatever the lokayukta has done is beyond the laid down rules and regulations as well as tradition. It was a case of 2008. Why he has taken it up now,” Dikshit said, while interacting with members of Indian Women’s Press Corps.
Since the matter pertained to election campaign, it fell under the purview of the Election Commission which should examine it, she said asserting that lokayukta had no jurisdiction over it.
The Chief Minister said that she met the President and took up the matter, but the latter has not yet received the lokayukta’s recommendations. She, however, parried questions about whether she would return `11 crore as per lokayukta’s decision.
Dikshit was indicted last week by lokayukta Justice Manmohan Sarin for allegedly misusing public funds on an advertisement campaign to get political mileage ahead
of the last Assembly polls and recommended recovery of `11 crore either from her
or the Congress.
The lokayukta had recommended to the President to administer “caution” to Dikshit for the alleged misuse of public funds for a series of advertisements carried out in print and outdoor Media in
2007-08 with punchline “Delhi is changing”.
The Chief Minister also staunchly rejected the charge of corruption against the Delhi Government by retorting “Where is the corruptionIJ You had tried your best to find corruption in Commonwealth Games. Even the Shunglu Committee did not find anything in CWG.”
However, she admitted that there is a lack of coordination between the Centre and her Government as unlike other States, Delhi has multiplicity of authority. The Delhi Government cannot acquire any land as Urban Development Ministry controls it and cannot take action against any SHO as police comes under Home Ministry.