The Aam Aadmi Party has responded to the recovery notice of the Directorate of Information and Publicity (DIP) that asked the party to pay Rs 164 crore within 10 days for publishing political advertisements as government Ads.
The party in an official statement said, "At the outset, it is submitted that demand of approx Rs 164 crores is arbitrary, perverse & contrary to facts & provisions of law & extant policies...kindly provide the copies of those ads whose cost you seek to recover from us".
Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia addressed a press conference in this regard and said that the Bharatiya Janta Party is missing the power of officials to trouble CM Kejriwal and his government in Delhi.
According to the news agency ANI, the Directorate of Information and Publicity issued a recovery notice of Rs 164 crores to the National convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party, Arvind Kejriwal.
"The amount needs to be paid within 10 days," the agency said citing sources.
The notice comes days after Delhi LG Vinak Kumar Saxena directed the chief secretary to recover Rs 97 crore from AAP for political advertisements published in the guise of government advertisements during 2015-2016.
The Aam Aadmi Party reacted to Delhi LG Vinay Kumar Saxena's order to recover Rs 97 crore from the party for publishing political advertisements as government ads.
AAP said that the Bharatiya Janta Party is using all these tactics to trouble the people of Delhi and questioned why are they being targeted when every state government issues advertisements in other states, reported PTI.
Earlier on Tuesday, the office of the LG denied giving time to CM Arvind Kejriwal for an urgent meeting. This came after LG himself asked Kejriwal to meet him to discuss certain governance issues.
Notably, Delhi LG Vinay Saxena on Monday invited CM Kejriwal to discuss certain governance-related matters. Soon after, the Delhi CM asked for an appointment on Tuesday to which the LG office said that the latter is busy till 4 PM, Friday.
The office added that LG Saxena can meet Kejriwal only after Friday evening.
Earlier, Lt Governor VK Saxena on Monday invited Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for a meeting to discuss the provisions governing administration in Delhi. In a letter to Kejriwal, Saxena asked the chief minister to hold regular meetings with him for "conflict-free" governance of the national capital in the interest of its residents.
In his letter, Saxena said the provisions governing administration in Delhi "... are amply clear for any practitioner of statecraft, lawyer and scholar as indeed a common citizen. I would like to invite you for a meeting where we could discuss issues threadbare".