Delhi law minister Somnath Bharti condemned the Delhi Commission for Women issuing summons to him and described it as a politically-driven body. He claimed the DCW demand for the FIR against him was motivated and that the DCW chairperson was a Congress party member. Sources said there were indications that the AAP-led government could remove the DCW chairperson.
Speaking to this newspaper, DCW chairperson Barkha Singh said she going to write to the lieutenant-governor to seek an appointment. “We have already summoned the minister twice this week. But he sent his lawyers who created a ruckus in our office. We have sought time from the L-G to seek action against the minister,” she said.
Ms Singh also pointed out that questioning the authenticity of the DCW is not right. “We are a government body. We take cognisance of offences related to women. We have done that in the past and will do it in the future. DCW has no personal vendetta against Mr Bharti. If he can talk like this about a woman holding an official post, anything can be expected of him.”
The AAP, which had given a clean chit to Mr Bharti on Friday, said, “It’s not acceptable to use this type of language. The party has sought an explanation from Bharti but hasn’t summoned him yet.”
The Delhi police, meanwhile, on Saturday informed a city court that it would not register a fresh FIR on a complaint lodged by another Ugandan woman, who claimed molestation by a mob allegedly led by Mr Bharti during his midnight raid.
In a written reply before metropolitan magistrate Chetna Singh, deputy commissioner of police B.S. Jaiswal deposed that the “present complainant had already been examined by the investigating officer and her statement, under Section 164 of CrPC, had also been recorded on January 21.”
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Bharti says DCW politically-driven
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