Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena on Monday sent a legal notice to AAP leaders Atishi, Durgesh Pathak, Saurabh Bharadwaj, Sanjay Singh following allegations of corruption in connection with his tenure as chairman of Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC). The AAP leaders have been asked to reply to the notice within 48 hours.
The notice has also been sent to Jasmine Shah, who is the vice-chairman of the Dialogue and Development Commission of Delhi.
In the notice, L-G Saxena has objected to the slogans that were raised in the Delhi Assembly regarding this issue and the hashtags -- #LG_Saxena_ko_Girftar_karo, #LG_Saxena_chor_hai -- that were run on Twitter.
The AAP has alleged that LG Saxena pressured his employees to exchange demonetised currency notes worth Rs 1,400 crore in 2016 when he was the chairman of KVIC.
The ruling party in Delhi has demanded Saxena's resignation, besides a probe by both the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Lt Governor Saxena has called the charges "highly defamatory and false".
On September 1, the Delhi L-G lashed out at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, saying the AAP chief had resorted to diversionary tactics and levelling false accusations but these would not deter him for discharging his duties as the L-G.
Saxena also released a statement in August, where he said said a "corrupt" AAP was using corrupt people to divert attention from their widespread misdeeds that includes massive corruption in education, liquor and PWD amounting to thousands of crores.
"The L-G has taken a serious view of these blatantly false, defamatory and obviously diversionary allegations made by these AAP leaders and has decided to take legal action against them so that the AAP does not get away with its characteristic shoot and scoot," the statement had said.
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The Lt Governnor said CBI had already inquired into the case at the behest of KVIC and filed the chargesheet as well.
"The people on the basis of whose statements these allegations are being manufactured against the LG are the two people who have prima facie been found to be engaged in corruption at KVIC by the CBI," the statement further said.
A chargesheet has been filed against the two accused - Sanjeev Kumar Malik and Pradeep Yadav, both former head cashiers at Khadi Gramodyog Bhavan (KGB).
"The matter being falsely touted by the AAP is with regards to just Rs 17.07 lakh as against the claims of Rs 1,400 crore which is nothing but a figment of imagination for which the habitual liars will face the consequences," the L-G office statement said.