Aumkareshwar Thakur (26) will be prosecuted under section 196 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which pertains to prosecution for offences against the State and for criminal conspiracy to commit such offence.
In a bid to ensure transparency in government projects, Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena has made mandatory an integrity pact between the Delhi government and a vendor in all contracts exceeding Rs 10 crore, officials said on Tuesday.
'Will the LG be ready to rule with a light hand, having been vested with powers that amount to using a hammer to kill a fly?' asks Aditi Phadnis.
The BJP has demanded the intervention of the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi in the renaming of the official 'CMO Delhi' handle on X to 'Arvind Kejriwal At Work', alleging that the change was made at the behest of the former chief minister. The party accused Arvind Kejriwal of misusing public funds for his own digital propaganda and demanded legal action against him. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) responded by urging the BJP to focus on governing Delhi instead of making "baseless allegations."
In a major setback to Delhi's Aam Aadmi Party government, the Supreme Court on Monday ruled that the law 'expressly enables' the lieutenant governor to nominate aldermen to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and he is not bound by the advice of the council of ministers in the matter.
Vinai Kumar Saxena's current job as lieutenant governor of an Opposition-ruled state will raise the bar -- not just for him, but also for the Aam Aadmi Party government, which never says no to a fight with the representative of the central government in India's capital.
The court said it is a matter of propriety but there is no legal right seeking removal of Kejriwal as chief minister following his arrest.
In a significant administrative reshuffle, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha ordered the transfer and posting of 48 J-K Administrative Service (JKAS) officers, potentially creating friction with the National Conference-led government in the Union Territory. The move, seen by many as an attempt by the LG to assert control over the bureaucracy, includes the transfer of 14 additional deputy commissioners and 26 sub-divisional magistrates. The timing of the order, coinciding with the elected government's wait for approval on business rules, raises concerns over power dynamics in the region.
In June, on a visit to Nainital in Uttarakhand, Dhankhar had collapsed at the Kumaon University.
In a bid to break the impasse on government-formation, Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung on Wednesday night spoke to Harsh Vardhan, Bharatiya Janata Party's chief ministerial candidate and leader the largest single party in assembly polls, for discussion on Thursday on the issue and Vardhan is likely to point out that he does not have the numbers.
Power distribution company officials said several areas, largely in central and east Delhi, were affected due to the failure. Some areas in north Delhi also faced outages.
He also ordered discontinuation 'with immediate effect' of the services of a private agency which was making telephonic contact with home-quarantined individuals to guide them.
Delhi Police have identified 175 people as suspected illegal Bangladeshi immigrants during a 12-hour verification drive in outer Delhi. The drive, which began on Saturday, is part of a broader initiative to identify and repatriate individuals living in the national capital without valid legal documents. The police are conducting door-to-door checks and scrutinizing documents to authenticate identities. They are also coordinating with local police in Bangladesh to verify information. The verification drives follow a directive from the Delhi LG Secretariat to launch a two-month special drive to identify and take strict action against illegal Bangladeshi immigrants residing in the city.
Allegations of corruption against its leaders, constant bickering with the lieutenant governor over governance issues and a spirited campaign conducted by the Bharatiya Janata Party were enough to ensure a rout of the Aam Aadmi Party in the Delhi assembly polls, the results of which were declared on Saturday.
In a press note issued earlier in the day, the Raj Niwas officials said Saxena had approved an increase in the adhoc monthly relief to Kashmiri migrants in the national capital from Rs 10,000 to Rs 27,000 per month.
"I was witness to a statement made by one of the Lt Governor's of Delhi some years back. He had stated that people of north India enjoy breaking the rules and by evening he was forced to apologise.
Kailash Gahlot was divested of the Law and Justice portfolio in the Aam Aadmi Party government on Friday, a day after Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena recalled files related to judicial infrastructure and administration in New Delhi as they remained pending with him for months, officials said.
Atishi will have a brief tenure in office as assembly elections in the national capital are due in February.
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has cleared a resolution passed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah-led cabinet urging the Centre to restore the statehood to the Union territory, officials said on Saturday.
'As a defence lawyer I won't know if a policeman under cross questioning is being prompted to answer by someone behind his computer screen.'
Aam Aadmi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal took a jibe at the Centre after former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah was not allowed to meet MP Sanjay Singh, who went to Srinagar to protest AAP MLA Mehraj Malik's arrest.
Atishi, who retained her Kalkaji seat, handed over her resignation to Saxena at Raj Niwas, officials said.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha's power to nominate five members to the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly was at the centre of a political and legal debate on the eve of vote count, with the Congress and regional parties the National Conference and the People's Democratic Party on Monday opposing any such move during government formation.
Kailash Gahlot, a key minister in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi, has resigned, potentially impacting the party's ambitious plan to roll out a Rs 1000 monthly honorarium scheme for women ahead of the Assembly polls in February. Gahlot, who represented the Jat-dominated Najafgarh constituency in West Delhi, cited several issues, including the "Sheeshmahal" controversy over his former official residence, the Delhi government's tussle with the Centre, and the failure to clean the Yamuna River, in his resignation letter. Delhi BJP leaders welcomed Gahlot's resignation, fueling speculation that he could join the party before the assembly polls. However, AAP leaders claimed Gahlot resigned due to pressure from central agencies, including the Enforcement Directorate, and that joining the BJP was his last option. Gahlot's resignation has sparked speculation about his future and the impact it will have on the AAP's electoral prospects.
Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna has recused himself from hearing pleas related to the alleged illegal felling of hundreds of trees in the Delhi Ridge area. The decision comes after a previous bench, led by former CJI D Y Chandrachud, sought a personal affidavit from Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena in the case, which also sought contempt proceedings against certain DDA officials. CJI Khanna stated that his prior involvement with the Delhi LG while serving as the NALSA chairman would make it inappropriate for him to hear the plea. The bench has ordered the listing of the pleas before a different bench starting November 27.
Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena has recommended an NIA probe against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for allegedly receiving political funding from the banned terrorist organisation 'Sikhs for Justice', Raj Niwas sources said on Monday.
Raut said a Congress-AAP alliance would have crushed the BJP in Delhi assembly polls, as counting trends show the Arvind Kejriwal-led party losing many seats amid the saffron surge.
Atishi along with Saurabh Bharadwaj was inducted into the cabinet following the resignation of Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain after their arrest.
A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and R Mahadevan asked the LG's office to not hold elections for the post of chairman of the Standing Committee till it hears the plea of Mayor Shelly Oberoi against the September 27 Standing Committee polls.
Career bureaucrat Anil Baijal was on Wednesday appointed as the new Lt Governor of Delhi, a post which has fallen vacant after sudden resignation of Najeeb Jung.
In an acerbic letter to the LG, Kejriwal took on Jung and Modi for allegedly putting spanners in every small initiative of the Aam Aadmi Party government by getting them probed by the Anti-Corruption Branch and the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Baijal also ordered an inquiry into the spendings on advertisements projecting Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his party and asked the chief secretary to fix responsibility.
The police and paramilitary personnel have been deployed in the area on Sunday to maintain law and order.
The decision was taken by Lt Governor Tejinder Khanna against the backdrop of controversy over the alleged conflict of interest involving Chidambaram in withdrawal of three cases against his client S P Gupta, Chairman, Sunair Hotels Limited, New Delhi
Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena expressed concern over AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal labelling Atishi a "temporary chief minister" and called it a "flagrant disregard for the democratic spirit and values enshrined in the Constitution". In his letter to Atishi, Saxena said Kejriwal's remark was an insult to President Droupadi Murmu, who appointed her, as well as himself as her representative. Hitting back, Atishi alleged the lieutenant governor's office was working as a BJP "proxy" and asserted that Kejriwal was Delhi's "tallest leader".
The Leh Apex Body (LAB) is demanding a judicial probe into the recent violence in Leh, which resulted in four deaths and numerous injuries. The LAB co-chairman, Chering Dorjay, denies any foreign involvement and alleges excessive force by police and CRPF personnel.
The report on the alleged liquor scam, a hot button issue in the run-up to the elections, claimed a loss of revenue to the tune of Rs 941.53 crore, saying timely permissions were not taken for opening the liquor vends in non-conforming municipal wards.
The Delhi Government on Wednesday once again sent the file of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru's mercy petition to the Lieutenant Governor after incorporating some "minor clarifications".
'In a courtroom, the judge can directly assess the witness's demeanour, which is crucial'
Voting for the Delhi Assembly elections began on Wednesday, with prominent leaders like President Droupadi Murmu, Union ministers S Jaishankar and Hardeep Singh Puri, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, and Delhi Chief Minister Atishi casting their ballots early in the day. Other notable figures who participated in the electoral process included Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, AAP leader and former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva, Delhi Police Commissioner Sanjay Arora, and Delhi Chief Electoral Officer R Alice Vaz. The election is a triangular contest between the ruling AAP, BJP, and Congress, with the AAP aiming for a third consecutive term. Polling is underway at 13,766 stations across Delhi's 70 assembly constituencies to decide the fate of 699 candidates. The results will be announced on February 8.
