The move comes months after a Centre-appointed three-member committee indicted the AAP government for "misusing" exchequer for ads
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is in trouble again after Lieutenant Governor (LG) Anil Baijal issued directions that Rs 97 crore spent by the state government on advertisements will be recovered from the party.
Baijal also ordered an inquiry into the expenditure on advertisements by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his party. The move comes months after a Centre-appointed three-member committee indicted the AAP government for "misusing" exchequer for ads.
Last year, the three-member committee headed by former Chief Election Commissioner B B Tandon, had been constituted by the I&B Ministry on directions of the Supreme Court to address issues related to Content Regulation in Government Advertising. The committee's findings were lying with the Deputy Chief Minister for months and when no decision was taken by the government, the Chief Secretary sent the report to Baijal.
"The LG has now directed the Chief Secretary to recover Rs 97 crore from AAP," a senior IAS officer said.
Last year, the committee had received a complaint from Congress leader Ajay Maken, who accused the AAP government of splurging public money on ads.
In its report in September last year, the panel had stated: "The government of NCT of Delhi has violated guidelines issued by the Supreme Court of India in six of the nine areas listed by the complainant. The violations include outstation advertisements, false or misleading advertisements, advertisements for self-glorification and to target political opponents, advertisements against media, advertisements mentioning the party in power by name and also advertisements issued on incidents occurring in other states."The panel, which included adman Piyush Pandey and journalist Rajat Sharma, further stated that AAP should be made to reimburse the expenditure. The assessment of the expenditure should be made by the Delhi government, it said.
The panel has also directed the Delhi government to assess expenditure incurred by it in issuing advertisements outside the territory of Delhi on the occasion of various anniversaries (except those tender or appointment advertisements, which are outside the purview of the Supreme Court-laid guidelines in a judgment delivered in May, 2015).
It directed that the Delhi government assess expenditure on those advertisements or advertorials in which the name of AAP is mentioned, which publicised the views of the Chief Minister on incidents that took place in other states, and ads that targeted the Opposition.
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