Sonepat court summons Kejriwal over ‘Yamuna poisoning’ claim
Pradeep Sharma
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, January 29
A Sonepat court today summoned former Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Arvind Kejriwal on February 17 on a plea against his remarks accusing the BJP government in Haryana of “poisoning” Yamuna river.
Acting on the petition filed by the Haryana Government through the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA), Chief Judicial Magistrate Neha Goyal sought a reply from Kejriwal and asked him to appear in person before the court on February 17.
“If he (Kejriwal) does not appear before the court on the next date of hearing, it is deemed that he has nothing to say in the matter and further proceedings shall be conducted in accordance with the law,” the court said.
The complaint was filed by Ashish Kaushik, Executive Engineer of the Rai Water Works in Sonepat. He alleged that Kejriwal spread misinformation and caused panic among the residents of Delhi and Haryana with his “Yamuna poisoned” remark. The petitioner demanded that Kejriwal be summoned, prosecuted and punished under the provisions of Section 54 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, along with Sections 353 (public mischief) and 356 (defamation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
The complainant maintained that on January 28, a crowd comprising residents from villages near the Yamuna gathered on the premises of the Irrigation Department’s office in Sonepat and sought an explanation as to why the Haryana Government had allegedly poisoned the river.
Asked about the source of the information, a few villagers presented a video clip circulating on social media, the plea stated. In the video, Kejriwal was purportedly seen claiming that the Haryana Government had “poisoned” the Yamuna, and that it was “detected on time due to the vigilance of Delhi Jal Board officers, thereby preventing harm to numerous residents”.
The petitioner alleged that Kejriwal wilfully and deliberately made false statement, causing panic among people.
Earlier, Haryana Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Vipul Goel alleged that Kejriwal made an irresponsible remark, spreading panic among the people of Delhi and Haryana.
Goel, while calling Kejriwal’s statement “absurd and misleading”, said the Election Commission should take strict cognisance of such “baseless” remarks. “Kejriwal has done cheap politics by making such allegations on Haryana, causing the state government to take legal action. The water supplied to Delhi is the same water consumed by the President, Prime Minister and Union Ministers,” he said.
The minister criticised the Delhi Government for failing to clean the Yamuna. Goel accused Kejriwal of levelling allegations against Haryana to save his political image.
