New Delhi | Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena has recommended an NIA probe against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on a complaint that his Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) allegedly received political funding from the banned terrorist organisation 'Sikhs for Justice', Raj Niwas sources said on Monday.
The AAP rejected the charge and alleged that the recommendation is "yet another conspiracy" against Kejriwal at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP). It called the LG "an agent" of the (BJP).
The LG's move came against the backdrop of indications by the Supreme Court last week that it may consider granting Kejrwal interim bail on Tuesday in view of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. The AAP chief, who is in Tihar jail, was arrested on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with an excise policy linked money laundering case.
A letter to the Union Home secretary by the Principal Secretary to the LG said Saxena had received a complaint that the Kejriwal-led AAP allegedly received USD 16 million funding from extremist Khalistani groups "for facilitating the release of Devendra Pal Bhullar." Bhullar is currently lodged in Amritsar Central Jail.
The complaint dated April 1 was sent to Saxena by one Ashoo Mongia, National General Secretary of World Hindu Federation India.
"Keeping in view, the sensitivity and seriousness of the allegations levelled in the complaint, Hon'ble Lt Governor has desired that the Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt of India, may consider referring the matter to the National Investigation Agency for conducting comprehensive investigation into the matter. This issues with the approval of Hon'ble Lt. Governor, Delhi," read the Principal Secretary's letter to the Union Home Secretary.
Bhullar was convicted in connection with the killing of nine people in a bomb blast in 1993 in Delhi. He was sentenced to death by a designated TADA court on August 25, 2001 and is undergoing life imprisonment after the Supreme Court commuted his death sentence.
In December 2023, the Delhi government's sentence review board rejected premature release of Bhullar at its meeting. The Board viewed that the case of Bhullar was not fit for premature release in view of the fact that "such convict, if released, may still pose a direct threat to the sovereignty, integrity and tranquillity of the country," said the minutes of the Board's meeting.
The letter by the LG's Principal Secretary stated that the complaint is made against a chief minister and relates to political funding received from a banned terrorist organisation.
"The electronic evidences adduced by the complainant requires investigation including forensic examination,” it said.
In the complaint to the LG, it has also been alleged that Kejriwal held closed-door meetings with Khalistani leaders at Gurudwara Richmond Hills, New York, during his visit in 2014. Kejriwal allegedly promised to facilitate the release of Bhullar in return for substantial financial backing from Khalistani factions to AAP, the complaint said. It has been alleged that the AAP received the political funding between 2014 and 2022.
In a series of posts on social media, a former AAP worker, Munish Kumar Raizada, also shared purported pictures of Kejriwal’s meeting with Khalistani leaders, the complaint said, according to sources.
"The complainant has also stated that as per tweets on Platform 'X' (erstwhile Twitter) Razada shared a picture of Sh. Arvind Kejriwal and Sikh leaders that took place at Richmond Hill Gurudwara, New York, in 2014....
"... It has also been mentioned in the letter that Sh Kejriwal wrote to former President Sh Pranab Mukherjee seeking clemency for Bhullar," read the letter to the Union Home secretary.
In the letter, the LG's principal secretary has also referred to the MHA, a letter written by Kejriwal to one Iqbal Singh in January 2014, mentioning that "the AAP Government has already recommended to the President the release of Prof. Bhullar and would be working on other issues including formation of SIT, etc. sympathetically and in a time-bound manner”.
Iqbal Singh was sitting on a fast at Jantar Mantar, demanding written assurance for the release of Bhullar and he ended his fast after receiving the letter from Kejriwal, r the letter said.
Reacting to the development, AAP leader and Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj called it "yet another conspiracy against Kejriwal at the behest of BJP".
"They are losing all seven seats in Delhi and are rattled by the fear of defeat in Lok Sabha polls," he said.
In a post on X, Bharadwaj said that the PIL demanding high level investigation in the same matter was dismissed by the Delhi High Court two years back.
"LG saab desperately trying to make headlines during Election season. This is complete misuse of constitutional office of LG. The PIL demanding high level investigation in the same matter was dismissed by HC two years back.
"The Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Navin Chawla rejected the plea filed by one Jagdish Sharma, stating that it is "completely frivolous'," the AAP said.
Bhullar was shifted to Amritsar Central Jail from Delhi’s Tihar Jail on health grounds in June 2015.
New Delhi | The Supreme Court will consider on Tuesday whether to enlarge Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on interim bail in view of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections when it hears his petition challenging his arrest in an excise policy-linked money laundering case.
Whether Kejriwal, who has been in custody through the Lok Sabha elections so far, is be able to campaign during the remaining phases will depend on the outcome of the proceedings.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta will take up as the first matter the plea of the AAP leader.
Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 and is currently lodged in Tihar jail under judicial custody.
On May 3, the top court had said it may consider granting him interim bail in view of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
It had told the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that arguments on Kejriwal's plea against his arrest are likely to take time and therefore it was considering hearing the probe agency on the issue of interim bail on account of the Lok Sabha elections in Delhi. Polling will be held in Delhi on May 25.
"It appears we can't complete today. We will post it on Tuesday morning itself. Mr Raju, one more thing. If it is going to take time and it does appear to us that it may take some time, we will then consider the question of interim bail because of the elections," the bench had told Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, who was wrapping up his arguments for the day.
Raju had said he would oppose bail to Kejriwal and pointed to the statements made by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh after getting bail last month in the same case. "Just look at the kind of statements he is making," the ASG said.
The bench had said it is putting the agency on notice about the court's intention so that it is not taken by surprise on May 7, when the interim bail issue will be dealt with.
"We are not commenting on it either way. We are just saying we will hear on interim bail and not saying we will grant interim bail. We may or may not grant interim bail," the top court had said.
It also told senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Kejriwal to take instructions. "Because of the position he holds, whether he should be signing official files?" it had said.
During the hearing, Singhvi told the bench that elections were announced on March 16 and Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 on the basis of statements and material which were available with the agency since last July.
The top court had issued a notice to the ED on April 15 and sought its response to Kejriwal's plea against his arrest.
On April 9, the Delhi High Court had upheld Kejriwal's arrest, saying there was no illegality and the ED was left with "little option" after he skipped repeated summonses and refused to join the investigation.
The case relates to alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and execution of the Delhi government's now-scrapped excise policy for 2021-22.
