Former Delhi High Court Chief Justice AP Shah and retired judges B H Marlapalle of Bombay High Court and Jaspal Singh of Delhi High Court have been named the three ombudsmen for Arvind Kejriwal's yet-to-be named party and the cases of these three will be presented before them by Monday.
Announcing the probe, Kejriwal said they will have to quit the party if the allegations are found true. "If any member is found guilty of any illegal or immoral activity he would be expected to resign from the proposed party," he said.
Bhushan, Damania and Gandhi welcomed the move, saying they are ready to face any probe and they have nothing to hide. A probe will clear all charges against them, they added.
Kejriwal's announcement came after allegations were levelled against Bhushan that there were irregularities in buying of land in Himachal Pradesh, that Gandhi has links with builders and Damania's land deals in Maharashtra were questionable.
"We have from time to time requested the government to set up an independent enquiry to investigate into the matter and give us double the punishment than prescribed if found guilty. Unfortunately, the government has been more interested in mud-slinging than setting up an independent probe.
"Therefore, we have formed an independent ombudsmen consisting of three retired judges enjoying a reputation of high integrity and independence to Inquire into any charges made against key members of IAC and they will probe Bhushan, Gandhi and Damania," Kejriwal said.
He said they would request them to expeditiously inquire into these charges and give their report as early as possible and within 3 months. MORE