‘Acted with utmost restraint’: Delhi Assembly speaker on GTB row

At a press conference, Gupta said, “The Chair directed that the exact words spoken be recorded verbatim, that objections raised by members and demands for action be duly noted, and that the factual position be carefully ascertained before arriving at any conclusion”.

Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta on Monday addressed the political row between the BJP-led government and the opposition AAP over the alleged “insult” of Guru Tegh Bahadur during the Winter Session last week, clarifying that he acted with “utmost restraint and strictly in accordance with constitutional and parliamentary norms, without taking any immediate or arbitrary decision”. In response, AAP said the name of the Sikh guru was “forcibly” dragged in and reiterated that the video of the incident was false.

The controversy began on January 6 during a discussion on 350th Martyrdom Anniversary of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur in the Delhi Assembly (HT)

At a press conference, Gupta said, “The Chair directed that the exact words spoken be recorded verbatim, that objections raised by members and demands for action be duly noted, and that the factual position be carefully ascertained before arriving at any conclusion”.

The controversy began on January 6 during a discussion on 350th Martyrdom Anniversary of Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur in the Delhi Assembly. Ruling BJP members accused Leader of the Opposition Atishi of using “insensitive words”. Atishi did not attend the house meetings on the subsequent days and the party said she was in Goa. Later, Atishi said that BJP “deliberately misused the name of Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji” and made “false claims”.

The next day, Gupta formally directed that the video showing Atishi’s remarks be sent for forensic examination. A report had been sought within 15 days. The matter has also been referred to a privileges committee.

On Monday, Gupta also expressed “serious concern” about attempts outside the House, and even beyond Delhi’s territorial jurisdiction, to “influence or interfere” with a matter already under active consideration of a privileges committee.

The Speaker said that, once the House takes cognisance of an issue and the inquiry process commences, any effort to “prejudice, obstruct or influence the proceedings amounts to a grave violation of constitutional propriety and an affront to the dignity and authority of the legislature”. Gupta said a chronological video compilation of the events related to the privilege issue has been released to ensure transparency.

He appeared to referring to the fact that police in Punjab, where AAP is in government, on January 9 registered an FIR against BJP MLA Kapil Mishra for posting a video of the speech. They said the video was “doctored” and “edited”.

AAP, in its response, said it was rejecting attempts to intimidate through the use of the word “privilege”

“A video has been tampered with and false text has been added. Whoever has done this will face a criminal case,” the party asserted.

The party added that people do not need to be forensic experts to verify this. “Anyone can listen to the original clip and satisfy themselves with the truth.”

“Leave aside what has been written and listen only to what is audible. The original Assembly clip is still available on YouTube and Facebook, and the AAP has also tweeted video clips. LoP Atishi did not use the word ‘Guru’ at all. Neither the word ‘Guru’ nor ‘Gurus’ appears anywhere. These words are simply not present in the statement,” it said.

“After the forensic investigation report, there is no room left for doubt,” the party further added.

Paperless savings: 3.38 lakh pages, saved 40 trees

Speaker said the Winter Session —between January 5 and 9— saw around 12 hours and 39 minutes of proceedings. “During this period, the House addressed 351 questions, including 60 starred and 263 unstarred, and received 124 special mentions. Of these, 33 special mentions have been forwarded to the relevant departments, with instructions to respond within 30 days.”

The Assembly also passed four Bills, the Court Fees Delhi Amendment Bill, 2026; the Delhi Appropriation (No. 1) Bill, 2026; the Delhi Jan Vishwas Amendment Provisions Bill, 2026; and the Delhi Shops and Establishments Amendment Bill, 2026, and approved Supplementary Demands for the financial year 2025-26.

Gupta said that digital documentation yielded ₹1.69 lakh in savings in printing cost, cut paper use by more than 3.38 lakh pages, and helped protect 40.56 trees besides reducing carbon emission. According to the assembly’s assessment, the Question branch alone accounted for 2,24,000 pages: 320 questions printed at an average of 10 pages per question, with 70 copies each. The Bills Branch accounted for 64,000 pages: Four Bills, each comprising 100 pages, with 160 copies per Bill. In addition, miscellaneous branch work, including internal notes, drafts, circulation papers, corrections, agenda papers and notices, was estimated at 50,000 pages per session.

“In total, 3,38,000 pages were avoided in a single session, which was equivalent to saving nearly 40.5 trees that would be required for 1,690.44 metric tonnes of paper as well as reducing 4 to 4.5 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions,” Gupta said. The Delhi Assembly went paperless by implementing the National e-Vidhan Application from the Monsoon Session last year.