Setback for AAP – Delhi Court orders FIR against Arvind Kejriwal, others over ‘misuse’ of public funds

In a setback for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal, the Rouse Avenue Court has directed Delhi Police to lodge an FIR against him and other party leaders over alleged misuse of public funds to put up large hoardings. Arvind Kejriwal is currently out on bail in the Delhi liquor policy scam case.

The case relates to the large hoardings installed by Arvind Kejriwal in Dwarka in 2019. The matter was heard by Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Neha Mittal. The FIR has been directed to be filed against then Matiala MLA Gulab Singh (AAP) and then Dwarka A ward councilor Nitika Sharma, too.

“This court is of the considered opinion that the application u/s 156(3) Cr.P.C. deserves to be allowed. Accordingly, the concerned SHO is directed to register FIR immediately under section 3 of Delhi Prevention of Defacement of Property Act, 2007 and any other offence that appears to have been committed from the facts of the case,” Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Neha Mittal said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has also accused the AAP of misusing the public funds for its own publicity. The Delhi court order has come days after the BJP ousted the AAP from power in Delhi after 10 years.

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Meanwhile, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva has also alleged massive corruption in the AAP government-run ‘Mohalla Clinics’ and accused former health minister Satyendar Jain and Arvind Kejriwal of running “shops of corruption” in the name of free healthcare.

The Delhi BJP president said that an alleged scam of ₹75,000 per test had surfaced, and a vigilance inquiry was underway. “AAP leaders accuse us of shutting down their clinics, but the reality is that we are shutting down their corruption shops,” Sachdeva said.

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