AAP to petition Delhi High Court over cases against 11 MLAs

A day after two of its MLAs were arrested under different charges, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday said that it will file a writ petition in the Delhi high court compiling all “false” cases in which its legislators have been “framed”. AAP’s Delhi unit convenor Dilip Pandey said prima facie the MLAs are being booked under a “conspiracy”.

He added that there has been a deliberate attempt by the Centre to create an undeclared emergency-like situation in the national capital. “There is an undeclared emergency in the Delhi by the Centre. With these acts, none of the AAP MLAs, ministers and workers will be scared,” Mr Pandey said.

AAP’s Seemapuri MLA Rajendra Pal Gautam said there is a pattern in the cases filed against the party MLAs. He said between filing of the complaint till registration of an FIR different statements are given. “There is a conspiracy to muzzle the voice of the Delhi government and its MLAs,” he alleged.

“We are approaching the cases. We have gathered most of our cases and prima facie it can be said that this is done under a conspiracy. The way cases are registered and the MLAs are arrested reveal there is a conspiracy behind it,” he said.

On Sunday, the Delhi police arrested Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan after a woman alleged he had tried to mow her down with his car, while Mehrauli MLA Naresh Yadav was arrested by the Punjab police in connection with the alleged Malerkotla sacrilege incident.

Mr Gautam said if the police wants to arrest an MLA then they can give a notice under Section 160 of the CrPC. “Arrest them if there is a case. But arresting MLAs using 300 policemen or picking them up from a press conference shows everything is being done under someone’s instructions. We will tell the high court the way people’s representatives are being framed in wrong cases.

“We will also tell the court the way Delhi government is being destabilised under a conspiracy,” Mr Gautam said. Eleven AAP MLAs have been arrested by the Delhi police and their Punjab counterpart in different cases since the party came to power in February last year.

Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr Pandey said arresting AAP MLAs reflects BJP’s “political bankruptcy” and “cowardice”. He claimed since the party came to power, one MLA has been arrested on an average every month.

“We still have 55-56 more MLAs. Modiji can arrest them all. They are already using the Delhi and Punjab police for this year. Now they can also deploy the Gujarat and Goa police for arresting AAP MLAs,” Mr Pandey said.