Delhi Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash was allegedly manhandled by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MlAs at the residence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday night, drawing widespread condemnations and protest from IAS officers and Government employees. The incident took place in the presence of Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia.
While two IAS bodies on Tuesday met lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal to lodge their protest against “pre-planned and pre-meditated” incident, the Chief Minister’s office dismissed the allegation of assault as “bizarre and baseless”.
IAS, DANICS associations, along with the Delhi Administration Subordinate Services (DASS), alleged that the meeting was called to put pressure on the Chief Secretary to release publicity material regarding achievements of the AAP Government, in violation of the Supreme Court guidelines. The meeting was devoid of any emergency or public interest, they claimed.
An IAS officer, who did not wish to be named, said, “There was a heated exchange at the meeting on Monday night. During the argument, two-three AAP MlAs manhandled him... The CS’s spectacles also got broken.”
In a late night development, the Delhi Police arrested AAP MlA Prakash Jarwal one of the legislators against whom Prakash has levelled allegations of assault.
However, a spokesperson of the AAP claimed that the Chief Secretary had been called for a discussion on rations.
Narrating about the whole incident, national spokesperson of AAP Ashish Khetan said several MlAs had been receiving complaints that the delivery of PDS was not being done satisfactorily in their constituencies for the last two months.
About 2.5 lakh families were deprived of rations last month due to faulty Aadhaar implementation and party MlAs were under tremendous pressure from the public, he added.
“There was a meeting of MlAs at the Chief Minister’s residence. The Chief Secretary refused to answer questions, saying that he was not answerable to MlAs and the Chief Minister, and that he was answerable only to the l-G. He (Prakash) even used bad language against some of the MlAs and left without answering any questions,” the party claimed in a statement.
Meanwhile, the Chief Secretary, who met the lt-Governor on the same night and apprised him of the incident, lodged a complaint with police against against Amanatullah Khan and 11 other AAP MlAs for manhandling and verbally abusing him. Following his complaint, the Delhi Police registered an FIR under various Sections, including 120B (criminal conspiracy), 186 (obstructing a public servant from performing the duty) and 353 (assault on public servant) against AAP’s Okhla MlA Amanatullah Khan and others.
“An FIR has been registered against Amanatullah Khan and other MlAs under Sections 186 (Obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 332 (Voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 353 (Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 120B (. Punishment of criminal conspiracy) , 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 342 ( Punishment for wrongful confinement), 506 (ii) (criminal intimidation), 323 ( Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the IPC at the Civil lines police station at the complaint of Anshu Prakash,” said Depender Pathak, Delhi Police Chief Spokesperson.
Meanwhile, the Union Home Ministry sought a report from the lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal on the incident, an official said. In a communication, the Ministry asked the lG to submit a detailed report on the alleged attack
Political parties in Delhi also condemned the incident and flayed the AAP. Describing the alleged incident “an act of Urban Naxalism”, Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari sought Kejriwal’s resignation, a high-level enquiry against him and suspension of the legislators concerned.
“Arvind Kejriwal and his Goon MlAs misbehaved and threatened the Chief Secretary of NCT Delhi Government last night... Another shameful act of @AamAadmiParty Goons... An act of Urban Naxalism... #UrbanNaxaliteKejriwal must Resign (sic),” Tiwari tweeted.
The Congress termed the incident an “administrative and constitutional crisis”, and sought an apology from the Chief Minister.
The bureaucracy and the AAP-led Delhi government have long been at loggerheads. In December 2015, IAS and DANICS officers went on mass leave against the suspension of two special home secretaries by Home Minister Satyendar Jain.