BJP attacks Kejriwal over framing of charges against two AAP MLAs in chief secretary assault case

NEW DELHI: The BJP on Thursday said a Delhi court's decision to frame charges against two AAP MLAs in a case of alleged assault on the chief secretary has belied the claims of the Arvind Kejriwal government that no such incident had taken place and attacked the party for not taking any action against the accused legislators.

BJP spokesperson Shazia Ilmi hit out at Chief Minister Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia for claiming victory following the court's decision to discharge them of the assault charge, saying the fact remains that there is an allegation of the then chief secretary being assaulted in their presence at the chief minister's residence.

"You keep saying that nothing of this sort had happened. The court has framed charges, prima facie finding merit in the case. Kejriwal's claim has been proved wrong," she told reporters, adding that it was for the first time that a chief secretary was attacked by ruling party MLAs in the presence of the chief minister at his residence.

Kejriwal should write a book titled "my experiments with jhooth (lies)", Ilmi said, taking a swipe at her former party colleague.

Ilmi was one of the founders of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and later switched over to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) following differences with Kejriwal.

Even the then adviser to Kejriwal told the court that he saw Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash being manhandled by the MLAs, she said.

Despite the framing of charges against Amanatullah Khan and Prakash Jarwal, the AAP has not taken any action against them, Ilmi pointed out.

"Do Kejriwal and Sisodia fear that the two MLAs will expose them if they act against them?" she asked.

The AAP government, she noted, had denied the Delhi Police a public prosecutor of its choice.

A city court discharged Kejriwal, Sisodia and nine other AAP MLAs on Wednesday in the case related to the alleged assault on Prakash in 2018.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sachin Gupta, however, ordered framing of charges against Khan and Jarwal.

Kejriwal tweeted "Satyamev jayate " (truth has won) following the court's decision.