Delhi court orders FIR against Kejriwal for ‘misusing’ public money on hoardings

New Delhi: In fresh trouble for AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal, a Delhi court on Tuesday ordered the registration of an FIR against the former Delhi Chief Minister for misusing public money by putting up large hoardings in Dwarka.

Asking the Delhi Police to file a compliance report on its direction by March 18, the Rouse Avenue court accepted the plea filed by one Shiv Kumar Saxena alleging wastage of public money.

Kejriwal, who is out on bail in a money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped excise policy, faced the complaint in 2019 for allegedly putting up hoardings in Dwarka.

The complainant had also sought registration of FIR against the then legislator from Matiala, Gulab Singh and councillor from Dwarka Nitika Sharma.

Saxena’s initial complaint was rejected by a magistrate, forcing him to approach the Sessions Court for registration of an FIR.

The Sessions Court accepted his plea and directed the magistrate that a cognisable offence appeared to have been committed by those named in Saxena’s complaint.

On Tuesday, the magistrate took up the matter afresh and directed Delhi Police to register an FIR and submit an action taken report (ATR).

Kejriwal currently faces 14 criminal cases, including one related to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in Amethi and others connected to alleged irregularities in the implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy.

In an affidavit, filled along with his election nomination papers in January month, Kejriwal mentioned 13 pending criminal cases.

The former Delhi Chief Minister also declared Rs 40,000 in cash on hand, while his wife, Sunita Kejriwal, reported Rs 32,000. His movable assets are worth Rs 3.46 lakh, while Sunita’s movable assets are valued at Rs 1 crore. Kejriwal also owns immovable assets worth Rs 1.7 crore. Sunita holds assets worth Rs 1.5 crore.

Kejriwal stepped out of jail in September 2024 after the Supreme Court granted him bail in the excise policy case.

The bail ended his long incarceration that began with his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21, 2024, followed by CBI on June 25.

During the Lok Sabha elections, he was granted interim bail for 21 days to campaign for his party candidates.

IANS