'Phansi ghar': Kejriwal, Sisodia's plea against notice 'pre-mature', Assembly Secretariat to HC

New Delhi, Dec 19 (PTI) The assembly secretariat on Friday contended before the Delhi High Court that the petition by AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia challenging summons issued to them by the Delhi Assembly's privileges committee over the 'phansi ghar' issue was "pre-mature".

Opposing the petition, the counsel for the secretariat submitted that the privileges committee was only examining the facts regarding the existence of a 'phansi ghar' and no allegations of breach of privilege or contempt of the House had been levelled against the AAP leaders.

The counsel contended before Justice Sachin Datta that the non-appearance of the AAP leaders before the committee was barring it from proceeding ahead which amounts to contempt of the House.

"The writ petition is completely pre-mature. The committee is yet to come to a conclusion.

"There have been no allegations of breach of privilege and contempt of house against the petitioners (Kejriwal and Sisodia). Their non-appearance before the committee amounts to contempt of the house, thus it is a very serious matter… No one's life or liberty is being threatened in any manner," senior advocate Jayant Mehta, representing the assembly, contended.

The court listed the matter for January 8 for hearing the rejoinder submissions of the counsel for the AAP leaders.

The assembly secretariat's counsel had earlier contended that the AAP leaders were non-cooperative with the privileges committee and despite the issuance of summons, Kejriwal and Sisodia had not appeared before the committee even once, citing that their petition is pending in the court.

After the BJP came to power in Delhi in February this year, Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta had told the House that the British-era structure, which was renovated and inaugurated in 2022 by then chief minister Kejriwal as a "phansi ghar" (execution room) was actually a "tiffin room" according to records.

He alleged that falsehood was spread on the issue and referred the matter to the privileges committee.

The Delhi Assembly's Committee of Privileges, looking into the previous AAP government's 'phansi ghar' claims, summoned Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener Kejriwal and other senior leaders including Manish Sisodia, Ram Niwas Goel and Rakhi Birla, asking them to appear in person on November 13 before it. Thereafter, they were asked to appear on November 20.

Kejriwal and Sisodia have approached the high court challenging the summons, saying that the notice showed that the proceedings are neither founded on any complaint or report nor is their reference to a motion of breach of privilege or contempt.

Their petition said the reference to the committee appeared to be for verifying "authenticity" -- a function beyond the remit of the Delhi Legislative Assembly and especially its privileges committee, that too for the next Vidhan Sabha.

The assembly had earlier termed the petition as misconceived and argued that it was not a notice for breach of privilege, but was only for assisting the privileges committee in ascertaining the authenticity of 'phansi ghar' and giving those facts to the committee.

The 'phansi ghar' was inaugurated in the presence of Kejriwal and Sisodia inside the assembly complex on August 22, 2022, when they were serving as Delhi chief minister and deputy chief minister respectively. While Kejriwal was the chief guest, the then deputy speaker Rakhi Birla was the guest of honour, and Goel presided over the ceremony.

The 'phansi ghar', according to AAP, was installed as a symbolic memorial relating to the freedom struggle and the sacrifices made by freedom fighters, and the inauguration was a matter of public knowledge.

Displaying a 1912 map of the Assembly complex, Speaker Gupta, during the last Monsoon session, told the House that no documentation or evidence indicated that the space was used for executions. He referred the matter to the committee for examination and report. PTI SKV SKV KSS KSS