No case filed against opposition MLAs: Delhi Minister

Delhi Minister Gopal Rai on Thursday told the Assembly that no FIR has been filed against opposition MLAs who held a protest inside the Secretariat here in June.

In his written reply, Rai also said that no permission was sought to hold a protest inside the Secretariat.

Replying to a question by Aam Aadmi Party MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj, he said that the General Administration Department is looking into the matter and studying the CCTV footage to identify unauthorised persons present in the Secretariat during the protest.

"Apart from the MLAs, unauthorised persons also entered the Secretariat complex during the protest. I want that FIR should be filed against those found breaking rules," he said.

He also shared a report of Assistant Commissioner of Police (Security) on the issue.

"The Delhi Police has been assigned external security at the Secretariat, that is, entry access control, whereas internal security is looked after by private security firm," it said.

The report said that all locks and keys at the Secretariat are "under the jurisdiction of private security".

In June, BJP MP Parvesh Verma along with BJP MLAs Vijender Gupta, Jagdish Pradhan, Manjinder Singh Sirsa and rebel AAP MLA Kapil Mishra staged a dharna outside the Chief Minister's office at the Secretariat and put banners across the building when Arvind Kejriwal and three of his Cabinet colleagues were protesting at the Lt Governor's office.

The report said that there is no restriction on the movement of Members of Parliament and Assembly inside the Secretariat.

"They have free movement inside the building as no instructions have been issued to restrict their movements. There is no lapse on the part of Delhi Police staff," it added.

--IANS

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