On Tuesday, September 27, the Delhi High Court Single-Judge Bench of Justice Amit Bansal passed an ad interim injunction order in favour of Delhi Lieutenant Governor (LG) Vinai Kumar Saxena and against Aam Aadmi Party and its five leaders in connection with a matter pertaining to their corruption allegations against him.
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Delhi High Court passes ad interim injunction order in favour of Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena’s and against @AamAadmiParty and its leaders with regard to their corruption allegations against him. pic.twitter.com/5gwhZvc6H0
I [have] passed an ad interim injunction order in favour of the plaintiff and a take-down order. There are detailed directions,” said the court.
Notably, an ad interim injunction order is a temporary order given by a court of law which tells someone either to do or not do something until an official decision on the case can be made.
The court was hearing an interim application filed by Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena. In the plea, Saxena had urged the Delhi High Court to restrain the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and several of its leaders from levelling “false” allegations against him and his family after they claimed that he was involved in a Rs 1,400 crore scam during his tenure as the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) chairman.
The five AAP leaders against whom LG Saxena had sought an interim injunction restraining order from the court are Atishi Singh, Durgesh Pathak, Saurabh Bhardwaj, Sanjay Singh and Jasmine Shah.
Saxena had sought an injunction against AAP and its leaders to delete or remove the allegedly false and libellous posts, tweets, or videos circulated and issued on social media. He has also claimed Rs 2.5 crore in damages and compensation, along with interest, from the political party and its five leaders.
Notably, during the last hearing in the case on Thursday, September 22, the Delhi HC observed, “I can imagine a politician saying things against another politician but not against a constitutional functionary. He is a constitutional authority.”
Representing the LG, Senior Advocates Mahesh Jethmalani and Maninder Singh accused the AAP and its leaders of defaming the LG by claiming on social media and press conferences that Vinai Kumar Saxena was involved in a scam worth Rs 1400 crore.
The LG Counsels termed the allegations made by AAP and its leaders as being blatantly false and defamatory and argued before the court that the defendants have not been able to show anything to substantiate the allegations and that even the document used by them was non-existent in reality and, therefore, forged.
Delhi Lt General VK Saxena informs he would take legal action against AAP leaders for defamatory allegations of corruption
It may be recalled that on August 31, LG House Officials said in a statement that the Lt Governor would take legal action against a number of Aam Aadmi Party leaders Saurabh Bhardwaj, Atishi, Durgesh Pathak and Jasmine Shah, among others, for highly defamatory and false allegations of corruption.
Notably, AAP leaders have launched a series of attacks against the LG, claiming he indulged in money laundering and more. On August 29, AAP MLA Durgesh Pathak claimed that during his tenure at Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) as chairman, VK Saxena had forced his employees to exchange old currency notes with new ones. AAP leaders alleged that the currency exchanged by LG tuned to 1,400 crores.
“A cashier working there has given in writing that he was forced to carry out the exchange of notes. It is unfortunate that he was suspended. Those who levelled were all dismissed. But we want a probe into this. There is a news report also and there are statements by the affected employees,” Pathak said.
Pathak said that two Khadi cashiers have claimed under oath that the Delhi L-G made them exchange old demonetised currency notes. Durgesh Pathak also accused VK Saxena of misusing his power by investigating the allegations himself and suspending the cashiers who exposed him. “Clear cut case of money laundering, there should be an ED investigation into the matter,” he had demanded.
LG Saxena has denied all the allegations, calling them a “figment of their imagination”.
The LG informed that a vigilance inquiry was ordered when it was alleged that some demonetised notes were deposited in the account of Khadi Gramodyog Bhawan, and four officials were suspended in the matter. The case is currently being probed by CBI, and the CBI has found that Rs 17,07,000 in demonetised notes were deposited by two officials, not Rs 1,400 crore as claimed by AAP leaders.
“The matter being falsely touted by the AAP is with regards to just ₹ 17.07 lakh as against the claims of ₹ 1,400 crore, which is nothing but a figment of imagination for which the habitual liars will face the consequences,” the statement by LG’s office added.
The allegations came at a time when several AAP leaders are facing corruption charges. AAP leader Satyendra Jain is currently lodged in custody, while Deputy CM of Delhi Manish Sisodia is facing accusations of corruption in liquor policy. Apart from the allegations of corruption against AAP leaders, LG has recently schooled Delhi CM and instructed him to sign the files before sending them for approval to him, which irked the AAP leaders against LG.
