Funds misused to glorify Kejriwal, AAP: Modi government

New Delhi: The central government on Wednesday told the Delhi High Court that the Delhi government was misusing public funds to glorify Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the AAP.

A division bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath was also told by advocate Anil Soni that funds were being misused by the Aam Aadmi Party government despite a Supreme Court fiat against using public money to boost the image of politicians.

The bench had asked the central government whether it had taken steps to form a three-member team to oversee the release of advertisements by the government and its agencies following a Supreme Court ruling that such ads cannot be used for the benefit of political leaders.

Soni told the court that the central government was in the process of constituting a committee.

The court now posted the matter for November 5.

The court was hearing a bunch of PILs including by Congress leader Ajay Maken saying the AAP government in Delhi was still issuing advertisements in violation of the Government Advertisement (Content Regulation) Guidelines of 2014.

The PILs sought directions to the Delhi government to immediately withdraw such advertisements and "restrain itself from such type of image building exercise of Arvind Kejriwal".

Meanwhile, the advocate for NGO Nyayaa Path told the court that on radio and TV stations Kejriwal is heard blaming "poisonous leaders" and "dirty politics" for communal tensions and said only the 'aam aadmi' (common man) can save the country from such insidious agenda.

It said the sole purpose of the advertisement was to project himself and his party as the messiah of secularism.