Delhi LG sends notice to AAP leaders for accusing him of corruption

Delhi's Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena on Monday sent a legal notice to Aam Aadmi Party leaders, accusing them of levelling 'false and derogatory' allegations against him, days after they claimed he was involved in a Rs 1,400-crore 'scam' during his tenure as the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) chairman.

The notice, served to AAP and its leaders Atishi, Durgesh Pathak, Saurabh Bharadwaj, Sanjay Singh and Jasmine Shah, among others, alleged they have unleashed a 'vilification campaign' due to vendetta as Saxena's actions have exposed the 'corruption' of key AAP leaders.

It asked them to issue a press release 'directing all members of the party and all persons associated with it, whether directly or indirectly, to cease and desist from spreading and circulating false, defamatory, malicious and unsubstantiated statements'.

The legal notice also asked the AAP leaders to comply with the requisitions within 48 hours of its receipt.

AAP sources hit out at the LG for sending legal notice to its leaders, saying he should stop threatening people.

"If he has done no wrong, why is he so scared of CBI raid and investigation? Why does he not offer himself for an independent enquiry? He should stop threatening people," a source in the party said.

The LG cannot silence 'our voice against corruption', the AAP source said.

The notice alleged that the 'perversity and malice' in the actions of the party in 'unleashing a vilification campaign' against Saxena, is 'a carefully planned move by AAP, tainted with the objective of digressing the attention of the people in view of the recent law enforcement actions having been taken against its senior leader(s)'.

'At the very outset, I strongly condemn the libelous acts as set out in this notice, by Aam Aadmi Party, its office bearers...who have made/ published/ circulated or caused to be made/ published/ circulated, libelous allegations against my client,' the notice said.

It claimed the 'false, malicious, motivated, tainted with collateral objectives, unfounded and misconceived allegations having been made knowingly and deliberately, calculated to harm the dignity, reputation and honor of my client, built brick by brick by his relentless hard work over the years'.

The notice claimed that all this is likely to have an effect on his family members, social circles and people at his workplace.

'The collateral object of this vilification campaign is to browbeat my client and to discourage him from performing his Constitutional obligations in his capacity as the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi.

'It is categorically stated... that the entire vilification campaign, its contents, the innuendos, imputations, attributions and insinuations are patently false, entirely unsubstantiated, calculated, distorted,' it added.

The AAP has been up in arms against the LG with Pathak alleging in the assembly last week that as the chairman of the KVIC, Saxena had pressured his employees to exchange demonetised currency notes worth Rs 1,400 crore in 2016.

The MLAs also held an overnight dharna in the assembly complex and have demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the allegation against the LG.

The AAP's allegations came close on the heels of Saxena recommending a CBI probe into alleged corruption in the implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 and the party's accusations that he was 'interfering' in the city government's work.

The notice by LG also cited figures from the Annual Report of KVIC for the year 2016-17, when Saxena was the chairman and the purported scan took place.

'It may be known, that the total Khadi sale across the country during 2016-17 was Rs 2146.60 crore as per KVIC Annual Report 2016-17. There were only 7 Departmental Store Outlets (DSOs) of KVIC, sale from which was Rs 173.58 crore during the entire year of 2016-17, while the remaining was sale done through independent Khadi Institution stores and franchisees.

'Out of sale of Rs 173.58 crore from these 7 DSOs during the year, Rs 99.35 crore was through retail sales and the remaining was through the wholesale and government supplies.

'Since the period under demonetisation was from 9.11.2016 to 31.12.2016, therefore on a pro-rata basis, retail sales worth approximately only Rs 14.43 Cr (actual may vary) took place through these 7 DSOs during the period of demonetisation. Hence, by any stretch of the imagination, whatsoever, the figure of Rs 1400 cr is not only incompatible...' said the notice.

The notice said that the AAP was doing it 'solely with the aim of deflecting and diverting the attention of the people from the gross failure of the AAP Government in Delhi, the expose in the recently unearthed Excise and Classroom scam coupled with the "appreciation gained by Saxena for the "extraordinary work done by him in the past three months serving as the LG of Delhi'.

'Ever since he joined this distinguished office, he has diligently and meticulously discharged his Constitutional duties and responsibilities, with an intention to effect good governance in Delhi for the betterment of the public.

'While ensuring that the law of the land and statute are upheld in both letter and spirit, my client has taken several tough decisions in the larger public interest, which may not be palatable to AAP. Thus, the present smear campaign is nothing but the bestial vendetta against my client whose actions have unveiled, amongst other things, rampant irregularities and corruption by some key leaders of AAP,' the notice read.

The notice also highlighted the alleged 'irregularities' by the AAP government that have been flagged by Saxena.

Based on the LG's recommendations, the CBI had registered a first information report (FIR) in connection with the alleged excise policy scam and raided Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia's residence.

Sisodia is one of the accused in the matter.

Saxena had also sought a report from the chief secretary last week over a delay of more than two-and-a-half years in acting on a Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) report on an inquiry into the construction of additional classrooms in Delhi government schools.