Arvind Kejriwal writes to Delhi LG seeking chief secretary’s removal

The minister said Saturday’s report was further grounds for Kumar’s immediate suspension and an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday forwarded to lieutenant governor VK Saxena the supplementary report submitted by vigilance minister Atishi which alleged that the Delhi government-run Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) signed an agreement to illicitly benefit a company co-founded by chief secretary Naresh Kumar’s son, according to officials aware of the matter. Kejriwal recommended that the LG immediately remove Kumar as the chief secretary and chief vigilance officer, lest he influence the proceedings of the probe.

Arvind Kejriwal (PTI)

Read here: Delhi minister Atishi writes to CBI, ED for probe against chief secretary

In the report submitted to the CM on Friday, Atishi alleged that a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was illegally signed between ILBS and MetaMix, co-founded by Naresh Kumar’s son Karan Chauhan along with two others, to set up a new artificial intelligence unit at the hospital despite lacking the adequate qualification or track record. Kumar, as chief secretary, is head of the ILBS governing council.

On Saturday, Atishi sent a 12-page “additional facts” report to Kejriwal and alleged that in the last 24 hours, multiple social media posts, including the one announcing the MoU, website links and profiles of people involved in the matter — which were available until a few days ago — have been removed. HT has seen a copy of the latest report.

The minister said Saturday’s report was further grounds for Kumar’s immediate suspension and an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

However, MetaMix, in a statement, said the allegations were baseless and added that it had no stakeholder or employee named Karan Chauhan.

“It has come to the knowledge of our company through electronic and print media, as well as, through social media that a report of a Minister, Delhi Government is being circulated in which certain observations have been made against our Company alleging that one Mr. Karan Chauhan (who is said to be the son of the Chief Secretary of Delhi) is the Founder of our company... We would like to clarify to all that such allegation is baseless and without any truth. Our company MetaMix Technologies Pvt. Ltd.has neither any stakeholder having the name ‘Karan Chauhan’ nor having any Director or employee with such name,” the statement signed by MetaMix director KD Sharma said.

Responding to the MetaMix statement, a Delhi government official said, “The report of the vigilance minister clearly mentions that information of Karan Chauhan’s association with MetaMix was obtained from public domain. There is no reason to doubt this information, especially since it is clearly established that 99% of the equity of MetaMix is owned by Mr Anish Sarin, promoter of Anant Raj Limited, that is the employer of Mr Karan Chauhan for past 10-12 years.”

HT reached out to the LG secretariat for a comment but no response was available till the time of going to press. HT also reached out to Kumar and ILBS, but neither offered responses to Saturday’s development or report. Attempts to reach Chauhan were unsuccessful. However, on Friday, ILBS denied the allegations in their entirety and said that there was no monetary transaction involved in the MoU with MetaMix.

Read here: Arvind Kejriwal calls for suspension of Delhi Chief Secretary over alleged hospital scam

Atishi’s supplementary report came just days after allegations of impropriety by the government against Kumar, whom it accused of helping people linked to his son make ₹850 crore in illicit profits in a land deal near the Dwarka expressway. “This shows a clear attempt to destroy evidence, erase the tracks and prevent public scrutiny of the startling irregularities that have been brought forth in the supplementary report on November 17. All such attempts to destroy evidence must be taken cognisance of when the matter is investigated by law enforcement agencies. These developments make it all the more urgent for an immediate CBI investigation,” Saturday’s report said.

To be sure, the Aam Aadmi Party-ruled Delhi government and the bureaucracy — whose control now prevails with the LG — have been at loggerheads for many months and charges have been flying from both ends.