The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on March 26 wrote to Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena, raising questions about the legitimacy of an order purportedly issued by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal from the lock up to address water and sewage issues in the city.
In his letter to Saxena, BJP National Secretary Manjinder Singh Sirsa said that the letter that the AAP claimed to be a directive by the Delhi CM did not carry the signature of Kejriwal, indicating that it was ‘forged’.
“The said purported Office Order shockingly does not even carry the Officer Order Number, date of issue and even the signature of Arvind Kejriwal is not there and hence it is clear that Ms. Atishi has unauthorizedly and illegally mis-used and abused her official capacity as a Minister for unauthorizedly accessing and using the “Official Letter-head” of the “Office of the Chief Minister, Government of NCT Delhi” for fabricating an “Officer Order” and the same fabricated “Office Order” has been illegally projected and used as the Office Order issued by Kejriwal,” Sirsa said.
I have complained to @LtGovDelhi and @dir_ed regarding how the official letterhead of Govt of Delhi is fabricated to create an order purportedly issued by CM Arvind Kejriwal who is in ED Remand till 28th March.
The order is without number, date & signature clearly showing… pic.twitter.com/I1Ttdws4wr— Manjinder Singh Sirsa (@mssirsa) March 26, 2024
Sirsa further said that Arvind Kejriwal cannot issue any such order without seeking prior permission from the Court by seeking a change in the terms and conditions of the “remand order,” which so far has not granted him any such permission.
“Even the proposal for seeking any such permission has to be generated from the concerned officers/secretaries from the concerned departments or CM’s Office, if so required, and then only the concerned secretaries can seek such permission, if so advised, from the Court which has passed the remand order, and the entire proposal has to be routed through the office of the Lt/Governor, being the Administrative Head of the Government of NCT Delhi,” he added.
The BJP leader also urged the Delhi LG to pass necessary directions for the registration of FIR against the “fabrication and forgery of the official records by the unconstitutional use of the office of the Chief Minister of Delhi.”
I've filed complaints with @LtGovDelhi and @dir_ed about a Fabricated official order on Delhi Govt letterhead, supposedly from CM Arvind Kejriwal, who's in ED remand until March 28.
The order is without number, date & signature. It clearly shows unauthorised use of power.… pic.twitter.com/9ePrf2yvcE
— Manjinder Singh Sirsa (@mssirsa) March 26, 2024
“I urge you to pass necessary orders/instructions for providing official mechanism and procedure (to deal with the ongoing serious crisis) for future for ensuring mandatory prior involvement of the Officers/Secretaries of the Office of Arvind Kejriwal as Chief Minister or the Ministers for ensuring that prior permission must be taken from the Court and ED for issuing any Office Order under the signatures of Arvind Kejriwal as Chief Minister of Delhi during the time period he is in custody,” Sirsa said.
“This order is illegal and unconstitutional; we demand an enquiry as to who is misusing CMO and for what personal gains!” Sirsa later wrote on X.
In his first “direction” to the Delhi government after being sent to the custody of the Enforcement Directorate until March 28, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has asked Water Minister Atishi to resolve water and sewer-related issues in various parts of the capital, the AAP minister claimed on March 24.
“Kejriwal, as water minister, has sent instructions from ED custody. The people of Delhi should not face a shortage of water. He gave appropriate orders to the chief secretary and officials so that the people of Delhi should not face any problems. There should be no shortage of water as summer has arrived in Delhi. As chief minister, he used to review the work of ministers. Now, he is in the custody of the central government,” she said.
The ED arrested Kejriwal in connection with the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case.
He was sent to ED custody until March 28. AAP later shared a one-page order written in Hindi from Kejriwal, which said: “I have found that there are water and sewer problems in certain areas of Delhi. I am worried about these problems. People should not face any problems because I am in jail.”
(with inputs from ANI)
