Headlines
AAP minister in police custody over alleged fake degree, quits
New Delhi, June 9
A bitter battle between the
central and AAP governments worsened on Tuesday as police arrested
Delhi's Law Minister Jitender Singh Tomar amid high drama and secured a
four-day police custody over his alleged fake degree. The AAP denounced
the arrest as vendetta.
The minister late Tuesday submitted his
resignation to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, saying he did not want
the image of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) or the government to be
tarnished.
Earlier Tuesday, Metropolitan Magistrate Navjeet
Budhiraja sent Tomar to police remand after police argued that the AAP
leader was an influential man who could fabricate documents if he
remained free.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress
promptly made fun of the AAP and asked Chief Minister Kejriwal to quit
over the episode.
Police slapped cases of cheating, criminal
conspiracy and forgery after picking up Tomar from his office early in
the morning and then dramatically taking him into custody.
There
was no comment from Kejriwal. But a livid Deputy Chief Minister Manish
Sisodia called the arrest illegal and said that an "Emergency-like
situation" was being imposed on the capital by Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung.
Delhi Police reports to the Lt. Governor and the union home ministry, and not the AAP government.
Delhi
Police rejected charges of wrongdoing. Its chief B.S. Bassi maintained
that the arrest was "within the parameters of law". He said: "There is
no conspiracy behind the arrest."
The AAP, which took power in
Delhi in February, accused police of roughing up Tomar. Delhi assembly
Speaker Ram Niwas Goel said he wasn't informed about the arrest.
Sisodia said vested interests were ganging up against the AAP government because of its anti-corruption campaign.
He said about 40 policemen swooped on Tomar's office and took him away as if he was a fugitive.
"Police
told Tomar that they had come to see some documents... They asked him
to accompany them to his house. On the way they told his driver to get
off, took charge of the vehicle and told him that he was being
detained," said Sisodia, adding Tomar was told "that he could ask
someone to being the documents to the police station".
"What is
going on?" he asked. "Was he (Tomar) running away? Did he explode bombs
in Delhi? There is an allegation (against him). The matter is in court.
What was the need to arrest him?"
Sisodia added: "This arrest is
illegal. There is an Emergency-like situation. This is supposed to be a
democracy... Maybe it is an attempt to teach the AAP a lesson (for what
we are doing)."
The arrest triggered protests by AAP supporters
at the Hauz Khas police station in south Delhi where Tomar was initially
taken. He was later moved to Vasant Vihar where AAP leaders Ashutosh
and Kumar Vishwas staged a protest.
Tuesday's arrest peaked a
simmering row between the central and AAP governments over the powers of
the Delhi government over the posting and transfer of senior officials.
This too is now facing judicial scrutiny.
The arrest also
coincided with an ugly turf war between the central and state
governments over the Anti-Corruption Branch of the Delhi government.
AAP
leader Sanjay Singh asked: "If the case relates to a fake degree, will
ministers Smriti Irani and Ram Shanker Katheria (of BJP) will also be
taken to police station without any prior notice?"
Tomar told CNN-IBN that he didn't know why he was arrested, adding it had been done to tarnish the AAP's image.
Two
cases are pending against Tomar in the Delhi High Court, alleging he
enrolled himself as an advocate on the basis of a fake law degree and
seeking cancellation of his election. Tomar says his degree is genuine.
"The
case was very clear from the first day but Kejriwal turned a blind eye
and let him (Tomar) continue as a minister," Delhi BJP president Satish
Upadhyay said.
"This is the first time a minister has been arrested," added Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken.
But
the CPI-M denounced the arrest as shocking, and said it was a clear
case of vendetta politics. It asked Lt. Governor Jung to resign.