Press Trust of India
New Delhi, June 23: The relations between Najeeb Jung and Delhi’s ruling AAP Thursday hit a new low with the latter demanding the arrest of the Lt Governor over his alleged role in the murder of an NDMC official and a state assembly panel saying he would be summoned for “questioning” in five scam cases.
The Aam Aadmi Party escalated its confrontation with Jung over the recent murder of NDMC officer M M Khan, allegedly at a hotelier’s bidding, after he refused to accept a bribe to extend the lease of his establishment. “His (Jung’s) role is suspicious in the case. Why had he written to NDMC seeking action against Khan? We demand that the LG be arrested and sacked from his position,” AAP’s Delhi Unit Convener Dileep Pandey told a press conference.
“We also demand that the Delhi police stop reporting to the LG and report to ministry of home affairs,” he added. It has come to light that a day after Khan was murdered for allegedly refusing to take bribe from Delhi hotelier Ramesh Kakkar, Jung’s office had purportedly sent Kakkar’s petition against Khan to NDMC asking for “action as per law”.
Khan, an estate officer of New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), was shot dead in Jamia Nagar a day before he was scheduled to pass the final order on the lease terms of hotel ‘The Connaught’ which was functioning on a property of the civic body, May 16.
Further intensifying its tirade against Jung, with whom it has been locked in confrontation over a number of issues, Rakhi Birla, the chairperson of the Petitions Committee of the state assembly, said Jung and Anti-Corruption Branch chief M K Meena will be summoned for “questioning” in connection with five cases of alleged scam during the tenure of Sheila Dikshit as Chief Minister.
Birla claimed the panel has the power to summon the LG who has to tell as to why action was not initiated on the five FIRs registered during the AAP government’s earlier 49-day stint in power. She said investigating officers of these cases will also be summoned by the nine-member committee whose all members are Aam Aadmi Party MLAs.
“At a meeting of Petitions Committee, we have decided to summon the LG, Meena and investigating officers for questioning. We will also seek legal opinion from the Standing Counsel to proceed in the matter,” Birla said. She said the issue was serious as two former Union ministers and a prominent industrialist were involved in the cases. She alleged the Lt Government and ACB adopted an “indifferent attitude” in getting the cases probed.
The development came a day after AAP MLAs Somnath Bharti and Rajendra Pal Gautam submitted their complaints in connection with the five cases to assembly speaker Ram Niwas Goel, demanding action against Jung and Meena.
