Row over police visit to Delhi CM’s house to hand over notice
An argument erupted between the police, who said they would give the notice only to Kejriwal, and CMO officials who said they would accept it on his behalf
A Delhi Police crime branch team on Saturday reached the residence of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to serve him a notice to join a probe over the Aam Aadmi Party chief’s allegations that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was trying to poach its MLAs, triggering a row.
While the officials from the chief minister’s office said that they were ready to accept the police notice, the police officer insisted on handing it over to the chief minister in person. This led to an argument between the two sides.
A video shared on X by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) showed a police official and party leader Jasmine Shah arguing over the notice.
Read here: Arvind Kejriwal skips summons again, ED approaches court
“I asked a simple question to the Delhi police officer standing in front of entrance of residence of CM Arvind Kejriwal. Under which law is he insisting to hand over a notice personally to CM? He had no answers. It is clear they are only here to do nautanki (drama),” Shah said in a post on X. In the video, Shah was heard telling the police officer that the summons by ED and CBI are also sent through emails, then why was the officer insisting on meeting the CM.
The police officer insisted on meeting the CM and tell about some facts, the video shows. “I am working within the limits of the law,” the office is heard telling Shah in the video.
Hours later, Kejriwal said the “political masters”of the police was forcing them to indulge in the drama. “I sympathise with this crime branch police officer. What is their fault? Their job is to prevent crime in Delhi. But instead of preventing crime, they are being made to do this kind of drama. This is why crime is rising in Delhi. Their political masters are asking which AAP MLAs were asked to switch over. But you know it more than me. You know everything. Not just Delhi, which parties were broken and their MLAs poached to topple governments in various states. You know everything. So why do drama over it,” Kejriwal said in a post on X in Hindi.
On January 27, Kejriwal alleged that the BJP offered ₹25 crore each to seven AAP MLAs to topple his government, a claim termed “absurd and baseless” by the BJP. Commenting on an alleged conversation between AAP MLAs and BJP, Kejriwal posted on X: “We will arrest Kejriwal after a few days and then break the MLAs. Talks have been held with 21 MLAs, and we are talking to others as well. After that, we will topple the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi. You should also come. Will give ₹25 crore and field you as BJP candidate in the election.” Kejriwal added that all the seven AAP MLAs refused to quit the party.
Addressing a press conference last week, Atishi claimed that the BJP has approached several AAP MLAs with bribes and threats.
On Tuesday (January 30), Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva, the leader of the Opposition in Delhi assembly, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, North Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari and other BJP leaders submitted a complaint to the Delhi Police commissioner Sanjay Arora, seeking an investigation into the AAP’s allegations.
A senior Delhi Police crime branch officer said that since Kejriwal had alleged that BJP leaders were trying to poach AAP MLAs, it is necessary to meet him in person. “He must have better knowledge than his party leaders about it, so we need to meet him and hand over the notice to him in person. He can tell us that what will be the suitable time for him to join the investigation in which he can give us complete details about the grounds on which he made the allegations. It is a one-minute procedure. But we are unable to understand, why did his office stop us from meeting him. If the notice was meant to be sent to his office only, we could have sent it by post,” the officer said, asking not to be named.
The officer said that a unit led by an assistant commissioner of police (ACP) was assigned to give the notice to Kejriwal under section 41 of the CrPC. “As per this section, police can summon a person to join the investigation if there is reason to believe that their interrogation is needed to establish the truth behind the allegations,” the officer said.
Officials in the chief minister’s office (CMO), however. said that they were ready to receive the notice but the Delhi Police was not giving it to them. “The CM office is ready to accept the notice and also give an acknowledgement of the same, but the police are not handing the notice. The police have come with media, proving that the purpose was not just handing over the notice but to defame the chief minister,” a CMO official said, asking not to be named.
A crime branch team visited the residences of Kejriwal and Atishi on Friday evening but left without handing over the notice to them.
The Delhi BJP, however, alleged that Kejriwal refused to accept the notice on Friday. “The crime branch had gone to CM’s house to give him a notice, but they (the officials) refused to accept,” Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said.
In a press conference on Saturday,Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva and leader of opposition in Delhi Assembly Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said CM Arvind Kejriwal was trying to evade investigation. “The CM has skipped the summons of ED, and now he is evading a probe into his own allegations of poaching,” said Sachdeva.