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Delhi Law Minister Jitendra Singh Tomar was in police lock up on Tuesday night highlighting the face-off between the Centre and the capital’s Aam Aadmi Party government after his arrest by police on charges of possessing fake degrees.
Tomar, 49, MLA from Trinagar and a first-time minister, was remanded to four-day police custody by a city court hours after he was arrested for allegedly forging his science graduation, law mark sheets and a migration certificate.
Investigators said that an FIR was registered and the law minister was arrested after nearly a month-long investigation established that the documents he submitted in 2011 to register with the Bar Council of Delhi were fake.
The arrest came in the midst of a raging battle between the AAP government and Delhi Lt Governor Najeeb Jung over the powers of the city government, giving a new political twist to the murky fight.
Parallely, the AAP government and Jung continued their fight over the appointment of Anti-Corruption Bureau chief and an official who issued the order appointing Delhi Police Joint Commissioner M K Meena to the probe agency.
Stung by the arrest, AAP unleashed a stinging attack on the Modi government accusing it of political vendetta and creating an “Emergency-like” situation in Delhi to avert the city government’s crackdown on corruption.
One of the AAP leaders alleged that the arrest was a “conspiracy” hatched in the Union home minister’s office at the behest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the party would not be cowed down but fight back.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh rubbished the charge saying his ministry did not order the arrest which Police Commissioner B S Bassi said was done within the purview of law and after following due procedures.
An FIR was registered against Tomar on Monday night in Hauz Khas police station and on Tuesday he was slapped with charges under sections of IPC relating to cheating and criminal conspiracy.
Tomar was interacting with a group of people in his office in Trinagar when about 30-40 policemen took him away on the pretext of getting some documents and then drove him to the Hauz Khas police station, according to his staff.
Terming the arrest “totally unconstitutional”, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said it was an attempt by the Modi government to “teach AAP a lesson” and asserted that no one involved in corruption will be spared.
“Attempts are being made to create an Emergency-like situation in Delhi through dictatorship as we have come down hard on those involved in corruption,” said Sisodia.
Accusing police of treating Tomar as a “mafia”, Sisodia said they forcibly put him into a car without giving any specific reason and seized his vehicle before bringing him to the police station.
“Tomar was arrested as if he was a mafia. Was he running away? Did he set off a bomb? What was the emergency, especially when a scam is being reopened? There's a deep underlying reason behind his arrest.
“This is an attempt to teach AAP a lesson. We would not spare anyone who will come in the way of our fight against corruption. His college affidavit clearly states that he has passed his law degree,” Sisodia said.
Both Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress demanded resignation of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal taking moral responsibility.
In the court, police sought five-day custody of Tomar saying his educational certificates relating to law degree were "fabricated" and he was required to be taken to Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh and Bhagalpur in Bihar to ascertain the authenticity of his educational qualifications. However, the court granted four day’s custody.
At a press conference, Delhi Police said K S Saket Post-Graduation College in Ayodhya have told the investigators that no BSc degree and marks sheets were issued in the name of Jitender Singh Tomar.
The police said the TilkamanjhiUniversity in Bihar’s Bhagalpur also termed Tomar's law degree fake. LawCollege in Bihar’s Munger from where Tomar claimed he studied law is affiliated to TilkamanjhiUniversity.
Image: Delhi Law Minister Jitendra Singh Tomar