Delhi Chief Secretary assault case: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal along with his former advisor V K Jain and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia were also present there. (Express file photo)
Almost four months after a row erupted over the alleged assault of Delhi Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash during a meeting at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s house in February, the CM is likely to be questioned by the police in connection with the case on May 18. The incident had triggered a bitter tussle between the Delhi government and its bureaucracy.
Additional DCP (north) Harendra Singh confirmed that they have issued a notice under Section 160 of the CrPC to Kejriwal, asking him to join the ongoing investigation on Friday. “We have given him the option to choose the location for questioning, either at his residence or office,” he said.
Police have already questioned the 11 MLAs who were present at Kejriwal residence for the meeting on February 19 when the incident happened. CM’s private secretary Bibhav Kumar was also questioned in connection with the case, last month after which police had claimed that there may have been a “pre-planned conspiracy” to attack Prakash at the CM’s house. Reacting to this, the AAP lashed out, suggesting police are trying to link the alleged assault to the chief minister. Kejriwal along with his former advisor V K Jain and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia were also present there.
On February 23, a police team had examined the CCTV system installed at the chief minister’s residence in the Civil Lines area and seized the hard disk. The forensic report on the hard disk is still awaited.
In a recent letter to Delhi Urban Development Minister Satyendar Jain, Prakash had termed as “unsubstantiated” and “unwarranted” Jain’s claim that officers were creating hindrances in the government’s functioning by staying away from work. Prakash said that Jain’s claim, made in a letter on May 7, was ironic since the “minister in charge of a department shall be primarily responsible for the disposal of business of the department” under the Transaction of Business Rules, 1993.
The exchange of notes between the two has deepened the crisis in the Delhi administration, brewing for over two months now, following the alleged assault on him.
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