Court allows to examine witnesses in case against AAP MLA

A court here on Thursday allowed complainant-witnesses to be examined in a case against AAP legislator Akhilesh Pati Tripathi for allegedly claiming medical expenses for his mother who was not dependent on him.

Metropolitan Magistrate Ambika Singh allowed the plea filed by advocate and RTI activist Vivek Garg, who sought to examine two officials of the Delhi Vidhan Sabha and one official from the Election Commission to support his allegation.

The court has fixed January 4 for examining the complainant witnesses in the case.

The court was hearing a complaint filed by Garg that Tripathi committed an offence by getting his mother's medical allowance worth over Rs.5 lakh reimbursed from the Delhi government though his parents are not dependent on him and not entitled to the claims.

Meanwhile, Garg withdrew his plea for registration of first information report against Tripathi and told court that he was doing so since the accused accepted his offence and has returned part of the amount to the Vidhan Sabha secretariat.

Delhi Police in the status report filed last month told the court here that when Tripathi was interrogated he said that when he came to know that his father, a pensioner, was not entitled for the medical claim, he wrote to the Vidhan Sabha secretariat to know the rules.

He was asked to return the amount with interest, that is Rs.2 lakh, on September 16.

Tripathi has been elected a legislator from Model Town constituency on the Aam Aadmi Party ticket.

The complainant has claimed that Tripathi, in two affidavits filed before the Election Commission during the 2013 and 2015 assembly polls, had declared that his parents were not dependent on him.

Garg has alleged that Tripathi had obtained a medical facility card under the Delhi Government Employees Health Scheme, and to obtain "wrongful gains", he has disclosed in the card that his parents are dependent on him and can avail the medical facility on the card of an MLA.