Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said if the Centre has any problem with commission of enquiry set up to probe alleged irregularities in the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA), it should approach court and further reiterated that the AAP Government will not step back from its decision.
Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party staged a nationwide protest against Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley over the alleged DDCA irregularities. The party said it will organise a protest at Jantar Mantar on January 10.
Defending his Government’s decision to appoint a commission of enquiry, Kejriwal said, “We will not back off from our decision. If the MHA has any problem with the Delhi Government’s notification to appoint commission of enquiry to probe alleged irregularities in DDCA, it may approach the High Court.” He further stated that an elected Government of Delhi has power to constitute commission of enquiry and Centre cannot declare the probe panel “null and void”.
Kejriwal’s remark comes a few days after lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung sought Centre’s intervention, questioning the legality of appointment of enquiry panel. “In a communication to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the l-G has stated that the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952 empowers only the Centre and State Governments to appoint a commission of enquiry. Since, Delhi is a Union Territory, a commission of enquiry may be ordered only with the concurrence of the Centre, through the l-G,” sources had said.
On Friday, Kejriwal claimed that action amounts to “unjustified interference” as the enquiry is “perfectly” legal and Union Minister Arun Jaitley should cooperate with the commission and stop “misusing” the l-G office. “We are not scared when all the agencies under them including police CBI, DRI are after us, why they are scared with one commission of enquiry,” he had said.
Meanwhile, the AAP claimed that in the protest organised in more than 275 districts and 17 State capitals, its volunteers from across the country set up stalls to rent out their laptops, printers and pooja thalis to DDCA. They also took out protest march calling Arun Jaitley corrupt and dared him to file defamation cases against them.
Jaitley has slapped a libel suit against AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal and other party leaders.
Addressing a Press conference, AAP’s Delhi unit convener Dilip Pandey said the DDCA scam has exposed BJP’s top leader’s involvement in corruption. “It’s a glaring example of how BJP leader Arun Jaitley misused his position to facilitate a scam. It’s shocking that a person who presided over systematic loot of public money at the cost of game of cricket for more than a decade, is country’s Finance Minister today,” Pandey said.
Ashutosh also hit back at Union Minister Venkiah Naidu for his comments that the AAP’s allegation will boomerang and said the party and its leaders are of a different mettle. He said the BJP has given a new definition to probity in public life. He also sided with suspended BJP MP Kirti Azad, who had came out openly against Jaitley, that he was ignored, then humiliated and finally suspended from the party.
The AAP Government had, earlier this week, appointed a commission of enquiry, headed by former Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium, to probe alleged corruption in DDCA between 1992 and 2015, and asked it to submit its report within three months.