Phansi Ghar proceedings against me ‘legally untenable’: Kejriwal to assembly panel

Committee chairperson Pradyumn Singh Rajput said that former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, former speaker Ram Niwas Goel and MLA Rakhi Birla were given two opportunities to present their version

New Delhi

Speaker Vijender Gupta, in August 2025, at the purported site of the gallows. (HT Archive)

Former chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday told the Delhi Assembly’s Committee of Privileges that ongoing proceedings against him in the Phansi Ghar (gallows) matter were legally untenable, procedurally flawed and beyond the assembly’s jurisdiction.

In a detailed seven-page letter addressed to the deputy secretary (legislation), Kejriwal said that the committee could not summon him for an event that took place during the previous assembly’s tenure, nor convert the proceedings into a “coercive” exercise.

“...the Committee of Privilege has narrow and limited jurisdiction. It cannot transgress into a factfinding inquiry; neither to deliberate nor to call for deposition. In other words, unless there is an allegation of breach of privilege, the Committee of Privilege cannot exercise any power or privileges, including to summon a person,” the letter read.

The response comes in reference to a series of notices and summonses issued to four AAP leaders, calling them to depose before the committee over the authenticity of the gallows inaugurated in August 2022. Kejriwal said he had attended the ceremony as a “guest” at the invitation of the then speaker of the 7th Assembly, and that the present House cannot retrospectively examine or penalise actions that occurred under a dissolved assembly.

Kejriwal said that legislative privilege is co-terminus with the tenure of the House. Citing Supreme Court judgments, he argued that all legislative business, except unfinished motions adopted by a successor House under the “doctrine of lapse,” stands terminated upon dissolution. Since no privilege motion regarding the event was pending when the 7th Assembly was dissolved in February 2025, the 8th Assembly is barred from reopening the matter, he said.

The AAP convener said that any attempt by the committee to convert a privilege inquiry into an administrative audit or archaeological verification exercise would be “extraordinary and unprecedented”.

Kejriwal told the committee that he has already approached the Delhi High Court challenging the maintainability of the proceedings and sought a deferral of the summons until the court decides the matter.

Committee chairperson Pradyumn Singh Rajput said former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, former speaker Ram Niwas Goel and MLA Rakhi Birla were given two clear opportunities to present their version but they once again failed to appear before the committee.

“The purpose of this committee is to get the correct facts but they have continued to not even appear and present the right facts. The court has not given any relief to them yet and my office has not received any letter as well. Noting their continued non-appearance in both the scheduled sittings, the committee has now decided to determine the further course of action in the matter under consideration,” Rajput said.

The committee is examining questions raised by speaker Vijender Gupta over the authenticity of the Phansi Ghar (gallows) that was inaugurated on the assembly premises in August 2022. The issue resurfaced earlier this year when the speaker shared records claiming that it was a lift chamber for transporting tiffin boxes.

Wednesday’s sitting had been convened specifically to evaluate factual details and procedural lapses surrounding the inauguration. The committee said that cooperation from all individuals concerned was essential to ensure a transparent and fair inquiry.