'This is illegal and has been done as revenge': AAP's Sisodia slams Jitendra Tomar's arrest

Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia has called the arrest of Delhi law minister Jitendra Singh Tomar in connection with a fake degree case  as an act of revenge by the central government.

“This is illegal and has been done as revenge. We are contemplating our future course of action,” Sisodia said.

“The Delhi government has been elected to serve the people and has a mandate like no other in the country,” Sisodia said, adding that its mandate was to take on corruption and it would take action without fear.

Sisodia pointed out that the matter was still under adjudication in the Delhi High Court and there was an affidavit submitted to the court which stated that Tomar was a bonafide law graduate.

“The Delhi Police came to arrest Tomar like they were going to arrest a mafia don…Jitendra Tomar is not a mafia don nor has he carried out a bomb blast,” Sisodia said, adding that the matter was in court and there was no need to arrest the minister in this unseemly fashion.

“This is being done to teach someone a lesson…” the deputy chief minister said.

Tomar was arrested on the basis of a criminal complaint filed by the Bar Council of India on Tuesday morning in connection with a case in which he is accused of procuring a fake law degree. Singh has been charged with IPC sections 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery), 468 (forgery with purpose of cheating) and 120 (B) (criminal conspiracy).

Sisodia said there had been repeated attempts to create a ’thanashahi’ (dictatorship) in Delhi and such efforts had begun soon after the AAP government started to look into the 2002 CNG fitness scam case. He said that hours after the file on the case was sent forward by his office, Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung had created a new post in the Anti-Corruption Bureau and appointed a new official to take charge of it.

“After I approved the file there has been an attempt to create Emergency-like situation…The ACB has been doing good work and this is an attempt to disrupt it by creating Emergency-like situation,” he said.

He also said that the one thing that the Delhi government had done successfully was tackle corruption and it was the state government’s biggest achievement so far.