The Delhi Assembly on the second day of the Monsoon Session passed a resolution condemning the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for ''selectively targeting'' elected representatives of the House for performing their duties.
Replying to short duration discussion, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that it was unfortunate that the sharp minds in CBI were spending their mental faculties on probing such a trivial matter.
"There was news today that the CBI is probing two AAP MLAs for writing to a DTC officer for the transfer of a driver. The Centre has come to the point of misusing the CBI for probing letters written by MLAs. They have set the CBI and other agencies behind AAP leaders as they could not find anything else against us. The whole game is to scare us. But we are not going to be scared. We condemn the Centre for its intention and misusing the CBI for petty matters," he said. The move comes after two AAP MLAs—Mukesh Ahlawat from Sultanpur Majra and Sanjeev Jha from Burari —came under the CBI scanner for allegedly writing letters to DTC General Manager Shakil Ahmed in a bid to influence transfers and posting of drivers.
Both the MLAs have denied any wrongdoing on their part and asserted it was their duty to raise public grievances. AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj put forth the resolution which was passed by the House.
"Taking cognisance of news reports published in few newspapers in Delhi regarding the CBI inquiry against Members of this House who have forwarded or recommended transfers of employees like drivers and conductors in the DTC, this House condemns the CBI in its attempt to selectively target elected Members who were performing their duties which are expected from elected representatives," the resolution stated.
During the discussion on the matter, the AAP MLAs accused the Centre of "witch hunting" the party Legislators. "The news was planted by the CBI to defame the two AAP MLAs.
We can also check the letters written by BJP MLAs, who write to different departments for the work of the people," Bhardwaj said. Jha, whose name has emerged in the probe, said it was a selective leak by the CBI that was being used as a political tool.
"The BJP is trying to defame the Delhi Model of Kejriwal governance by targeting the MLAs. A bad precedent is being set by the BJP Government. They will not always be in power and same treatment could be meted out to them," he said.
The other MLAs concurred with Jha and stressed that they were not scared by these conspiracies. They demanded that a message should be sent against misuse of central agencies. BJP MLA Mohan Singh Bisht said the DTC officer caught by the CBI may have cited names of AAP MLAs to save his skin.
"As a public representative, we write dozens of letters urging officers for doing peoples' work. The media persons should be called before a committee to know about the source of the news. Some action should also be taken against the officers who leaked the news to media," he said.
