Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday sacked Delhi Food and Supplies Minister Asim Ahmed Khan from his Cabinet for reportedly taking a bribe of Rs 6 lakh from a builder in his constituency.
“I will not spare my son or (Deputy Chief Minister) Manish Sisodia if they indulge in corruption and if I slip up, Manish will act against me,” Kejriwal said at a hurriedly called press conference to announce Khan’s removal.
Khan, who represents Matia Mahal seat, will be replaced by Ballimaran legislator Imran Hussain. Kejriwal said the probe has been handed over to the CBI.
“Till the CBI completes the investigation, he (Khan) will not be a minister,” Kejriwal said, reiterating his government’s resolve to act against corrupt officials, legislators or Cabinet ministers.
Khan vowed to come clean and told reporters late in the evening that he has resigned from the party as he was told to do so till the CBI probe was over. “The image of the party should remain clean,” he said, calling the allegations against him as a conspiracy by the Opposition.
“We got a complaint of corruption against Khan. The complainant had given a letter and an hour-long audio recording. Prima facie, it appears to be a serious matter,” said Kejriwal.
He also claimed that he and Sisodia confirmed the matter through a preliminary probe before deciding to remove Khan.
Playing a short audio clip, Kejriwal said the wrongdoings and the sting operation were conducted over two months by the complainant, whose name has been withheld due to threat to his life, and Khan allegedly used a middleman to deal with the builder. The chief minister did not mention whether he and Sisodia heard Khan’s voice in the audio clip. He also did not indicate whether the clip played for the media carried the minister’s voice.
In one audio clip, Khan is purportedly haggling over the bribe money. In another, there is a conversation over delivering the bribe money to “Iqbal” outside Moti Mahal hotel in Daryaganj. The bribe was paid as protection money to let the construction of the building to continue and prevent disruption.
Kejriwal remained silent when asked whether Khan would be sacked from the party but dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sack BJP leader and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who is linked to a recruitment scandal. Khan is the second minister of the Kejriwal Cabinet to lose his berth over a controversy. Then law minister Jitender Singh Tomar resigned under pressure in June after being arrested for allegedly faking his educational degree.
Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyay said Khan’s role in the recent onion scam and the murder of one Shehzad in Turkman Gate a few months ago should also be probed.
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