CM, Dy CM Cleared In Chief Secy Assault Case

Clean Chit For 9 Others; 2 AAP MLAs To Face Trial

- Usha Das

New Delhi: A city court on Wednesday gave a clean chit to CM Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy, Manish Sisodia, and nine other AAP MLAs in a case of alleged assault on the then chief secretary, Anshu Prakash, in 2018, saying no prima facie case was made out against them.

Additional chief metropolitan magistrate Sachin Gupta said when Prakash admittedly attended the meeting in discharge of his official duties, how such a meeting, where the CM, deputy CM, MLAs and chief secretary himself was present, can be called an unlawful assembly was difficult to understand. The meeting was called to discuss release of the party’s advertisements relating to the AAP government completing three years.

The court, however, ordered framing of charges against two AAP MLAs, Amanatullah Khan and Prakash Narwal, in the case.

Unlawful Assembly Charge Baseless: Court

Labelling such a meeting, even called in the late hours at the residence of the CM, attended by CM, deputy CM and 11 other MLAs, as an unlawful assembly or part of any criminal conspiracy can seriously hamper the smooth functioning of the government and public interest would suffer ultimately,” the court said.

It said that from the conduct of all the persons present and the surrounding circumstances, as stated in the chargesheet and documents filed, including the statements of witnesses, no inference of any unlawful assembly or any criminal conspiracy can be drawn, much less inferred that the accused persons in any manner abetted commission of any offence as alleged.