Phansi Ghar row: Assembly issues warning to Kejriwal, others

Delhi Assembly warns former CM Kejriwal and others for skipping privilege committee meetings over the Phansi Ghar controversy, citing contempt.

The Delhi Assembly on Friday issued a formal warning to former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, then deputy CM Manish Sisodia, former Speaker Ram Niwas Goel, and then deputy Speaker Rakhi Birla for skipping the sittings of committee of privilege in the Phansi Ghar (gallows chamber) controversy.

Arvind Kejriwal

Resolution under Rule 77(1)(a) was passed on the matter for propagating a “manufactured and baseless narrative” regarding a Phansi Ghar in the Assembly premises.

A final report on the matter is likely to be tabled in the next session, officials said.

Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta said while the House possesses the supreme authority to award stringent punishment, including imprisonment, it has chosen to exercise judicial restraint by issuing this formal warning “to uphold the dignity of the legislature”.

“The House is deliberating on this matter with absolute justice. The contempt has been proven. While no court in India can grant relief in matters of legislative privilege, we are proceeding based on the dignity of this institution,” he said.

Addressing the House, he accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders of propagating a “manufactured narrative” of a Phansi Ghar. He said that associating this glorious building with an execution chamber is a disservice to its true history.

“It was after witnessing these proceedings that Mahatma Gandhi launched the Non-Cooperation Movement,” he recalled.

Gupta also spoke about the previous “neglect of Delhi’s rural martyrs while fake stories of execution rooms were being circulated”.

He added that a third report from the committee will specifically address the “lies spread regarding the Phansi Ghar.”

The committee of privileges detailed the case history and issued recommendations in the alleged Phansi Ghar row in its interim report presented on Monday.

Several senior leaders, including former CM Arvind Kejriwal, were summoned but did not appear in initial sittings held in November 2025.

While Kejriwal, Goel and Birla appeared before the committee earlier this month, the panel noted that no satisfactory explanation was provided for their earlier non-attendance.

The committee held the four AAP leaders in contempt of the House.

The Phansi Ghar controversy began in August last year after Speaker Gupta said that the site designated by AAP government as British-era gallows was actually a tiffin room. The site became a political flashpoint, leading to investigations against Kejriwal.