Delhi House committee to summon L-G

The Petition Committee of the AAP-dominated Assembly on Thursday decided to summon Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung for “sitting on” cases filed during the party’s earlier tenure.

With this, the Aam Aadmi Party’s fight with the L-G got uglier. The party also upped the ante in the row over the recent murder of NDMC officer M M Khan and demanded the L-G’s arrest.

Deputy Speaker Rakhi Birla said Jung and the Anti Corruption Branch (ACB) chief Mukesh Meena would soon be summoned by the Petition Committee of the House for questioning in four cases pertaining to the alleged scams during the Sheila Dikshit’s Congress government. Birla, who is the chairperson of the nine-member Petition Committee of Assembly, said the committee took the decision after taking opinion from the Delhi government’s standing counsel.

But former Delhi Assembly Secretary S K Sharma said the Petition Committee is trying to achieve something impossible.

“Just as no Parliament committee can summon the President, the L-G cannot be asked to appear before the Assembly’s panel,” said Sharma.

Birla’s announcement came on a day when ACB sources indicated that former Water Minister Kapil Mishra was likely to be summoned for questioning on July 4.