Panel issues fresh notices to Kejriwal, Sisodia after no-show

Chairperson Pradyumn Singh Rajput said Kejriwal, former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, former speaker Ram Niwas Goel and former Kondli MLA Rakhi Birla were scheduled to be deposed but remained absent without intimation.

Fresh notices were issued to former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and three other Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders on Thursday by the Delhi Assembly’s privileges committee after failing to appear before the panel during a sitting on the ’Phansi Ghar’ (gallows chamber) controversy.

Rajput said the panel has given them another opportunity and fixed November 20 as the next date for their appearance (ANI)

Chairperson Pradyumn Singh Rajput said Kejriwal, former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, former speaker Ram Niwas Goel and former Kondli MLA Rakhi Birla were scheduled to be deposed but remained absent without intimation. Rajput said the panel has given them another opportunity and fixed November 20 at 2:30 pm as the next date for their appearance.

“Their version is essential for the inquiry. The committee expects them to ensure their presence so their statements can be duly recorded. Cooperation from all concerned is necessary for timely progress,” he said.

In response, a statement from AAP called the move “legally untenable and politically motivated”, adding that the panel cannot act on matters from the previous term as affirmed by the Supreme Court in 2010.

Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of “misusing a legislative mechanism for political vendetta”, the AAP further said, “Instead of addressing this public health emergency by convening Assembly meetings to tackle the crisis, the BJP government is busy politicising the Committee of Privileges.”

“The closure of primary healthcare facilities (mohalla clinics) during peak pollution season reflects administrative negligence,” it further said, adding, “In the interest of Delhi’s citizens, this BJP government must end this misadventure which is a vendetta driven distraction strategy”.

Despite the absence of the four leaders, the panel on Thursday continued its scrutiny into ‘Phansi Ghar’. Officials said the committee examined documents, background files, and other material placed before it, adding that it is undertaking a “structured and fact-based” review of the events surrounding the inauguration of the room on August 9, 2022.

The row erupted earlier this year after current Speaker Vijender Gupta dismissed the previous AAP government’s claim that the room in the Assembly complex had once been used by the British to hang freedom fighters. During the monsoon session this August, Gupta presented old building maps to assert that the chamber was a service shaft or tiffin lift area, not a gallows.

Thursday’s meeting was attended by BJP MLAs Abhay Kumar Verma, Ajay Kumar Mahawar, Neeraj Basoya, Surya Prakash Khatri and Satish Upadhyay. Committee members said the November 20 sitting was “crucial” as the panel has moved into the evidence-recording stage. With several relevant documents already reviewed, the appearance of the four absent leaders is expected to shape the next phase of the probe, officials added.

The committee further said it aims to conclude the inquiry in a fair and comprehensive manner, based on factual clarifications, procedural scrutiny and the participation of all individuals connected to the matter.