New Delhi: Hours after he posted an open letter to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, challenging him to an electoral battle, sacked Delhi water minister Kapil Mishra on Tuesday filed three complaints with the Central Bureau of Investigation against Mr Kejriwal over allegations of corruption, as well as against his relatives and some AAP leaders. He handed over three sealed envelops to the CBI that he called “evidence”. The CBI said that Mr Mishra’s complaints against the Delhi government ministers and others will be “examined and verified”. Later in the day, the anti-corruption branch registered an FIR against the company of the Mr Kejriwal’s brother-in-law, who has been accused of getting Rs 50 crores worth of land in violation of the rules.
Mr Mishra, former Delhi water minister, said he has filed three complaints. “First on the exchange of cash between Mr Kejriwal and Satyendar Jain. Second, on the firm owned by Mr Kejriwal’s relatives involved in the PWD and a Chhattarpur farmhouse land deal. The third is on the foreign trips by five AAP leaders.”
In a statement, CBI spokesman R.K. Gaur said the agency had received three complaints from Mr Mishra, with allegations of bribery and other irregularities against some functionaries of the National Capital Territory of Delhi and some others. The CBI would examine the complaints, Mr Gaur said.
Mr Mishra has also sought details of the foreign trips of AAP leaders Sanjay Singh, Ashish Khetan, Raghav Chadha, Satyendar Jain and Durgesh Pathak by Wednesday morning, and threatened to go on a hungerstrike if the AAP failed to provide this data. “In the last two years, which countries did they visit, where did they stay, who bore the expenses, whom did they meet and what are those deals that they entered into?” Mr Mishra asked. Mr Mishra also alleged there had been “illegal funding” for the Punjab elections and that tickets were “sold” by the party during the Delhi civic polls.
Late on Tuesday evening, the income-tax department issued a notice to the AAP asking why it should not be prosecuted for alleged tampering of account books. The Enforcement Directorate had earlier sought details on the party’s funding.
On Tuesday, meanwhile, a stormy Delhi Assembly session ensued when the Aam Aadmi Party chose to dodge the allegations of corruption by Mr Mishra and raked up the EVM tampering issue once again. AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj held a live demonstration in the House to prove that EVMs can be rigged easily by inserting certain codes to favour a certain political party. The House also saw the presence of JD(U) and Trinamul Congress leaders in the visitors’ gallery during the one-day Assembly session.
Earlier in the morning, Mr Mishra wrote an open letter to Mr Kejriwal challenging him to a electoral battle. In the letter, Mr Mishra said he would register an FIR against Mr Kejriwal. Mr Mishra approached the CBI a day after he was suspended from the AAP after he levelled fresh corruption allegations against Mr Kejriwal. Mr Mishra, who was sacked as Delhi water minister on Saturday, has also said he will record a “detailed” statement on the '400-crore tanker scam in the Delhi Jal Board with the anti-corruption branch on Thursday.
