Delhi: Charges framed against Arvind Kejriwal and three other AAP leaders in 2014 case
In January 2014, the chief minister and the other party leaders allegedly got into a scuffle with police officials during a protest.
A court in Delhi on Friday framed charges against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia and Aam Aadmi Party leaders Rakhi Birla and Somnath Bharti in an agitation case, The Times of India reported. The charges were framed by the court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal. Aam Aadmi Party’s Sanjay Singh and former party leader Ashutosh were, however, discharged.
The case dates back to January 2014, when the chief minister and the others staged a dharna outside the Rail Bhavan Chowk, demanding action against police officials who had refused to raid a suspected drug and prostitution racket in South Delhi based on a complaint filed Bharti.
The police chargesheeted the six leaders under Sections 145 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 186 (obstructing public servant), 353 (assault or use of criminal force to deter a public servant), accusing them of violating prohibitory orders and obstructing public servants discharging their official duties.
This action against the AAP leaders comes a time when two of its sitting MLAs have been sentenced in two different cases. On Thursday, Sadar Bazar MLA Som Dutt was given a six-month jail term in a 2015 assault case. Last month, a court had sentenced Manoj Kumar, the MLA from Kondli, to three months in prison for obstructing the election process at a polling booth during the 2013 Assembly elections.