CBI says it is examining records of AAP govt’s Mohalla Clinics after Kejriwal alleges harassment

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday said it is examining records related to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government’s ambitious Mohalla Clinics project in Delhi based on a complaint about irregularities after chief minister Arvind Kejriwal alleged that officials were being harassed.

Several doctors and mid-ranking officials of the Delhi Health Department have been questioned, CBI officials said.

The agency said the investigation was part of a preliminary enquiry registered on charges of alleged irregularities in sanctioning of Mohalla Clinics (primary healthcare centres) in various colonies.

The CBI has recently questioned a chief medical officer (CMO) and some doctors who are in charge of clinics, officials said.

The preliminary enquiry was registered on the recommendation of former Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Najeeb Jung, in 2016, they added.

The agency officials denied Kejriwal’s claim that CBI had collected three lakh documents related to Mohalla Clinics. They said they were examining records and statement of suspects who were asked to join the probe.

The agency officials said it cannot force someone for questioning during the preliminary enquiry stage.

Kejriwal has alleged that the CBI had started investigating Mohalla Clinics, summoning various officials. He also alleged that the Delhi government’s officials were being “harassed”and “abused openly” for working in the AAP government.

Kejriwal said the CBI and the Anti-Corruption Branch have registered 14 cases against AAP ministers and their relatives since the party assumed office in February 2015, but there hasn’t been an arrest in even one case.

“Cases have been registered against me, (deputy chief minister) Manish Sisodia, (minister) Satyender Jain. I want to know what happened to all these cases.

“No one has been arrested in these cases. Why don’t central agencies first arrest us in such cases? The only motive is to stall the AAP government’s work,” he told reporters at his residence here.

He alleged that there was an attempt to “defame” and implicate AAP leaders in the “wrong cases”.

“... every day a new case is being registered against us,” Kejriwal claimed.

“The PMO and the Centre are unleashing the lieutenant governor, IAS officials and agencies like the CBI, ED, the Income Tax Department and the Delhi Police on us to stall the government’s work,” he said.