BackPoll panel orders FIR against Arvind Kejriwal over bribery remarks
The FIR against Arvind Kejriwal will be filed under provisions of the Representation of the People Act dealing with bribing voters and also under sections of IPC
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New Delhi: In a rare intervention, the Election Commission (EC) on Sunday directed the chief electoral officer of Goa to file a First Information Report (FIR) against Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal over remarks made by him at a rally in the poll-bound state. The ‘FIR/complaint’ will be filed under provisions of the Representation of the People Act (RPA) dealing with bribing voters and also under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
On 8 January, Kejriwal told a rally at Mapusa that other political parties would come to distribute money among voters. “They will come with money, do not refuse it because they have looted it from us... vote for jhadu (broom, the election symbol of AAP)," the EC quoted him as saying.
Kejriwal alleged—according to the EC order citing an interview with The Times of India on 22 January—that the poll watchdog was working under the directions of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), prompting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hit out at Kejriwal in a rally in Punjab.
In its order to the Goa chief electoral officer on Sunday, the EC said: “The Commission directs that necessary legal action be initiated by filing an FIR/complaint against Arvind Kejriwal for the statements... compliance report in this regard should be sent to the Commission latest by 3.00 PM on January 31."
This is not the first time that the EC has warned Kejriwal during the ongoing election campaign—on 20 January it censured him over his statements which were seen as abetment of offence of bribery under IPC and a violation of the model code of conduct (MCC).
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Referring to the interview given by Kejriwal, the EC in a letter to the Goa chief electoral officer on Sunday said the “substance, tone and tenor...are not only baseless and scurrilous but also unethical and highly depreciable" against the constitutional authority.
“Being Chief Minister of Delhi and a star campaigner of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Goa, he is expected to conduct in an exemplary manner in election campaigns, in a law abiding manner so as to be a role model for others to emulate but he has on several occasions again violated provisions of MCC by breaking his assurance to EC..." the Committee said.
“Arvind Kejriwal has again written a letter... stating therein that he is not abetting bribery by appealing to voters to accept money from any party but to vote in favour of ‘jhadu’... he stated that the Commission is encouraging bribery by refraining him from uttering such statements... These submissions being baseless and scurrilous are totally unjustified in the light of the provisions of law on bribery and are not acceptable to the Commission," the EC added.
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The AAP denied the charges. It said it has only received a letter from the EC which asks Kejriwal not to make such statements in the future but no communication on any ‘criminal case’ being registered against the Delhi chief minister. “We further reiterate our stand that the statement of Arvind Kejriwal does not amount to any offence what to talk of section 171 (b) (of IPC on bribery) and neither it can be taken to be an inducement or abetment for the said offence," an AAP press release added.
The tug of war over the EC has led to a verbal battle between political parties. While the Delhi chief minister and senior AAP leaders have questioned the EC over its functioning, Modi in his Punjab rally on Sunday said: “I went to Goa recently and there they have made a statement saying EC does what Modi tells them to. Their attack on EC is coming because polls were announced for same day in Goa and Punjab. It is an excuse for defeat and their loss is certain because of their antics in Delhi."
Analysts said the EC order is “very strong" in spirit, coming in the midst of a deteriorating political discourse in which the EC often gets attacked.
“As far as EC becoming a bone of contention between political parties is concerned, it is not happening for the first time. Over the last 15 years or so, political parties say undesirable and wrong things against the poll panel. Political discourse has gone really low and it has been steadily going down," said Jagdeep Chhokar, founding member of the New Delhi-based Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
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