New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi after he said he had been named in an FIR regarding alleged illegalities in the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW). The police clarified later that he was not a co-accused in the FIR.
“Don’t know why my name is in the FIR,” the Aam Aadmi Party leader told journalists here, holding a copy of the FIR. “Without the Prime Minister’s approval, a Chief Minister’s name doesn’t figure in an FIR.” Kejriwal’s remarks came after the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) of the Delhi government slapped an FIR against DCW chief Swati Maliwal on Monday night over complaints of alleged irregular recruitment.
“What is my role in this?” Kejriwal asked. “My role has not been mentioned even once in the FIR (First Information Report).”
He said FIRs were framed carefully even in the case of ordinary people. “To include a Chief Minister’s name, they would have thought over it at least 10 times.”
He said it was clear that the instructions to include his name would have come from the Prime Minister. “I believe the DCW has done no wrong. Nevertheless, what is my role?”
Hours later, ACB chief M.K. Meena said Kejriwal did not figure in the FIR.
Meena, a Special Commissioner in Delhi Police, said former DCW chief and Congress leader Barkha Singh had named Kejriwal in her complaint along with present DCW chief Swati Maliwal. But the ACB did not include his name in the FIR, Meena said.
“In the ACB’s endorsement enquiry report, Kejriwal’s name is not mentioned. He is not an accused in the case and we are not conducting any enquiry against him,” he said. The officer said a notice had been served to Maliwal to appear before the ACB on September 29 in connection with the case.
The officer said Maliwal, her secretary P.P. Dhal and some government officials were named in the FIR on Monday. Maliwal has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing vis-a-vis recruitment in the DCW.
Earlier, Kejriwal said a special session of the Delhi assembly would be called in a few days to discuss the FIR. He said issues regarding why the FIR was filed, the “real facts” and the “entire conspiracy including incidents of the past few months” against the AAP would be discussed by the AAP-dominated house.
Maliwal has denied any wrongdoing and instead demanded to know why the ACB, which the central government took over after Kejriwal became the Chief Minister, has not gone into illegalities committed by her predecessor.
