Police swarming all over CM’s house. The conflict between Centre and state is snowballing into a major crisis with the Delhi police ‘raiding’ the house of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal apparently to investigate the alleged assault of the Chief Secretary Tuesday midnight after which the executive has been up in arms and refused to work to talk to the elected representatives.
Delhi Police, which searched Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence on Friday for CCTV footages in connection with the alleged assault on Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash, said no cameras were installed in the room where the incident reportedly took place.
A senior police officer said they would go about the investigation based on the coverage by cameras installed in the corridor and added that seven of the 21 CCTV cameras in the house was not functioning.
“Going by the coverage by CCTV cameras outside the drawing room and in the corridor, we will try to understand the movement of people before and after the incident,” Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Harendra Kumar Singh said.
“The time of cameras in the Chief Minister’s residence was running behind by 40.43 minutes,” he said, adding that hard disks of the cameras had been seized.
A forensic team was also present during the search so that evidence could be collected in a certified and professional way, the DCP added.
These teams would also look into why seven cameras were not functional.
So far, interrogation of the Chief Minister has not been done.
The police official declined to comment on whether the Chief Minister and his deputy Manish Sisodia would be interrogated.
The police also interrogated the people responsible for maintenance of the CCTV cameras in the Chief Minister’s residence.
On Tuesday, the Chief Secretary had alleged that he was beaten up by two AAP MLAs Amanatullah Khan and Prakash Jarwal, in the presence of Kejriwal, on Monday night at the Chief Minister’s residence where he had been called for an emergency meeting.
The incident took place between 12.00 and 12.15 a.m, according to the police.
The officer said that the CCTV footage was sought by them on February 20, but since there was no response, they had to conduct the search.
Delhi government officers were not attending meetings for past three days due to the alleged assault, Arvind Kejriwal said, adding that Lt. Governor Anil Baijal has promised to talk to officers and resolve issues.
Kejriwal made the statement after he met the Lt. Governor along with his council of ministers.
“Officers not attending meetings for last 3 days. Governance suffering. I’m very concerned. LG assured he will take all steps to ensure officers started functioning normally. Council of ministers assured him all cooperation. All of us need to work together for the betterment of Delhi,” Kejriwal said in a tweet.
Meanwhile Baijal said that there was “no place for violence in democracy”.
“Strongly condemn the recent unfortunate incidents. Advised elected government to take steps to remove mistrust with govt. employees so that development of Delhi is not affected,” he tweeted.
Bureaucrats had declared that they would not meet or talk over the phone to the Chief Minister, his ministers or MLAs till Kejriwal apologises for the alleged assault.
For the past two days, Delhi government employees across the city have also been observing a five-minute silence outside their respective offices every day as a mark of protest.
Addressing media after the meeting on Friday, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that the Lt. Governor has ensured that he would talk to government officers to resolve the issues.
“Told him (Baijal) how for two-three days, officers did not come to the meeting and did not attend phone calls. Many meetings were cancelled. LG said he will ensure that officers will be there in meetings and work together with ministers,” he said.
“CM said that he will also talk to officers to ease out things,” Sisodia said.
Asked whether the Chief Minister will apologise for the alleged assault, he only said that “police investigation was going on and the matter was pending before the court”.
Days after the Chief Secretary accused Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislators of assaulting him, party MLA Naresh Balyan on Friday justified the act, saying anyone obstructing the work for the common man deserves a beating.
“They are taking up to three to six months for doing work which should be done in three days. Why? Because Delhi Chief Minister abolished the commission system which earlier reigned. And as this system was eradicated, they (bureaucrats) started sitting on the files.
“Whatever happened to the Chief Secretary…I say they should be beaten up, they should be thrashed… Whoever obstructs the work being done for the common man, should be meted out the same treatment,” Balyan, the legislator from Uttam Nagar constituency, said at a public rally of the party.
Later Balyan said his words were misconstrued and that he only meant that the public has a right to beat up erring officials.
“My contention was people should be given ration on the basis of their ration cards and that people have a right to beat up those officials who are obstructing its implementation,” he said.
In an order issued on Tuesday, the Delhi government had stipulated that beneficiaries will no longer need their Aadhaar biometrics to buy subsidised ration, bringing the ration card system back for a while.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) flayed the Delhi Chief Minister, accusing him of fomenting lawlessness in the national capital.
“Your own MLA … he has threatened to hit any public servant, any officer, who does not agree with Arvind Kejriwal. What kind of situation do you want to prevail in Delhi — lawful situation or a lawless situation,” BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra told the media here.
“Mr Arvind Kejriwal, we have seen in the past also how you have spoken against the very ethos of the Constitution of this country. You have always spoken about anarchy and you have yourself declared that you are an anarchist.
“I firmly believe that this kind of anarchist mentality will never be beneficial for Delhi. So, I believe Arvind Kejriwal should be answering the question,” he said.
Noting that the AAP and Kejriwal always claim that the Central government is not allowing them to work, he said: “If that is true, then what achievements are being claimed through large hoardings and banners on every crossing in Delhi? Are they taking credit for real work or is it just an advertising scam?”
Patra termed it “surprising” that while the Delhi Chief Minister came out to defend a “corrupt” former Principal Secretary Rajendra Kumar when the CBI raided him, he had turned against his own Chief Secretary when the latter tried to uphold the Supreme Court’s order on advertisements.
The Chief Secretary had reportedly stonewalled a video advertisement featuring Kejriwal highlighting his government’s achievements on the completion of three years, on the basis that none of the departments was ready to clear the opening sentence as required by apex court’s directions.
Patra said that while the AAP has blamed the Centre of “dadagiri” (highhandedness) and “goondagardi” (hooliganism), it should first clarify what their definition of these terms is.
“Is it dadagiri or decency to call the Chief Secretary to your place and then get him assaulted by your MLAs?
Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh on Friday met members of the IAS Association over the alleged assault and assured them that he will put across inputs and suggestions to ensure the safety of officials.
Singh said it is a part of his obligation to ensure that the officers have a work-friendly environment “so they can put up to the best of their potential, the best of their performance in the larger interest of the nation”.
“…have told them that we would put across all these inputs which have been furnished by them,” Singh told media persons after the meeting.
He added that during the meeting, the delegation submitted that they strongly condemn the assault on “any government officer by anybody during execution of their duties”.
The minister said that a memorandum has been prepared to list some of the grievances of the IAS officers.
“…very soon two or three of their representatives would engage in a discussion with the DoPT (Department of Personnel and Training) Secretary to put across various suggestions which they have relating to the guidelines laid down by the DoPT as far as the conduct in the administrative sector is concerned,” he added.
“They would discuss the guidelines that should be followed, if they are being followed or not and how an environment can be created where people can constructively work together to take forward the government policies,” he said.
He informed that the IAS Association also mentioned about previous such incidents when the officers were assaulted.
“This affects the morale of the officers and they are forced to take voluntary retirement or seek transfer due to such behaviour,” he said.
The delegation demanded that there should be clear guidelines for the functioning of the administration, he added.
“We are government employees, not affiliated to any political party. We have been deeply hurt by what has happened,” IAS Association Secretary Manisha Saxena said. (IANS)