Speaker shares clip, chronology of Atishi’s controversial remarks

Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta on Monday showed a video of the January 6 House proceedings during which Leader of Opposition (LoP) Atishi allegedly made remarks on Sikh Gurus.

Addressing a press conference, Gupta said the sensitive issue had been referred to the Committee on Privileges and the relevant video had been sent to the State Forensic Science Laboratory in Delhi for examination.

Meanwhile, the Assembly Secretariat is yet to receive a reply from three senior Punjab Police officials — Director General of Police (DGP), Special DGP (Cyber Crime) and the Commissioner of Jalandhar Police, over the registration of an FIR in Jalandhar.

The Speaker mentioned that the Chair acted with utmost restraint and strictly in accordance with constitutional and parliamentary norms, without taking any immediate or arbitrary decision over the alleged remarks by Atishi.

“The proceedings were recorded in detail across multiple sittings between January 7 and 9, and the entire sequence of events was formally placed on the record to ensure complete transparency and public accountability,” Gupta added.

He expressed concern over attempts outside the House, and even beyond Delhi’s territorial jurisdiction, to influence or interfere with a matter that was already under active consideration by the Committee of Privileges.

“Once the House has taken cognisance of an issue and the inquiry process has commenced, any effort to prejudice, obstruct or influence the proceedings amounts to a grave violation of constitutional propriety and an affront to the dignity and authority of the legislature,” he said.

Echoing similar sentiments, Delhi Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said Atishi fled the Assembly and had not been seen publicly for the past several days.

“If Atishi is innocent, why is she not coming forward? Why has she not lodged a complaint in Delhi? When the Assembly Speaker, on the request of MLAs from both the ruling and opposition sides, clearly sent the video for forensic investigation, why did she and the Aam Aadmi Party not wait for that report?” Sirsa said.

The minister alleged that when AAP realised that the truth would come out in the forensic investigation, they used the police to file an FIR, even though neither the incident occurred in Punjab nor the clip was not uploaded there and none of the accused has any direct connection to Punjab.

He also questioned the statement in the FIR that described the video as “doctored and edited”.

Sirsa added that the entire proceedings of the Assembly are still available on social media platforms, which Atishi and AAP leaders themselves have shared on social media. In such a case, the allegation of tampering is completely false and baseless.

He added that this matter is no longer just a political controversy; it has become a serious issue connected to the honor of Guru Teg Bahadur, Sikh faith and the country’s federal structure.