Civil activists write to prez for Chauhan’s removal

Noted civil rights activists have written to President Pratibha Patil demanding removal of Delhi cabinet minister Raj Kumar Chauhan, who has been held guilty by the Delhi lokayukt of abusing his authority.

Noted civil rights activists have written to President Pratibha Patil demanding removal of Delhi cabinet minister Raj Kumar Chauhan, who has been held guilty by the Delhi lokayukt of abusing his authority.

HT Image

“As citizens, we expect our political representatives, especially representatives of the rank of cabinet ministers, to uphold the law firmly and strictly.

This minister not only brazenly recommended the case of a person who was being actively raided by tax department, he is also justifying it,” the letter to the President by four activists said.

Apart from the President, former top IPS officer Kiran Bedi, rights activist Swami Aginivesh, noted activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan and Magsaysay awardee Arvind Kejriwal have also written to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Delhi chief minister Shiela Dikshit.

Dikshit had met Gandhi earlier in March after Delhi lokayukta justice MM Sarin sent a recommendation to the President that Chauhan be removed from his post for interfering in a tax raid at a south Delhi resort in 2010.

Sarin had held Chauhan guilty of abusing his authority to help a resort owner involved in tax evasion.