New Delhi [India], April 19 (ANI): Delhi Police on Saturday filed a status report in the case of alleged defacement of public property against former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, former MLA, and an MCD councillor. Police submitted that they are making consistent efforts to trace the accused persons and requested more time.
The report was filed in the Rouse Avenue Court.
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Neha Mittal took the status report on record and listed the matter for May 3.
Delhi Police have also stated that during the investigation, on April 3, on the instance of the complainant, a site plan was prepared and has been placed on record.
“Furthermore, consistent efforts are being made to trace the accused persons,” the report stated.
On March 28, police had informed the court that they have registered an FIR on a complaint against Arvind Kejriwal and others. The complainant has alleged violation of the Defacement of Public Property Act in the Dwarka area.
The Rouse Avenue Court on March 11, 2025, gave a directions to Delhi Police to register an FIR and file a compliance report.
Delhi Police had submitted a compliance report before the court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Neha Mittal and informed that an FIR has been registered.
The court on March 11 directed Delhi Police to file an FIR on a complaint filed against former CM Arvind Kejriwal, former MLA Gulab Singh, and MCD councillor Nitika Sharma in a matter related to defacement of public property in the Dwarka area in 2019.
This direction was issued in response to a complaint filed by Shiv Kumar Saksena.
The court had said that it is of the considered opinion that the application under Section 156(3) CrPC deserves to be allowed.
“Accordingly, the concerned SHO is directed to register FIR immediately under Section 3 of the Delhi Prevention of Defacement of Property Act, 2007, and any other offence that appears to have been committed from the facts of the case,” ACJM Mittal ordered on March 11.
It was stated by the complainant that the accused persons are misusing public money by putting up huge size hoardings at Sector-11 DDA Park, Dwarka road and crossing, Delhi Development Authority MP green area at Sector-11, Dwarka (behind DDA Sports Complex), Sector-10 main crossing, Sector-10/11, Sector-6/10 main decorated crossing and roads, power poles, DDA park boundary wall, and other public places.
It was further stated that in one of the hoardings, it is stated that the Delhi Government will soon start registration for darshan at Kartarpur Sahib and the same bears the photographs and names of Arvind Kejriwal, the then CM, and Gulab Singh, then MLA, Matiyala Constituency. In another hoarding, greetings of Gurunanak Dev Jayanti and Kartik Purnima have been extended to the local residents, and the same bears the photograph and name of Nitika Sharma, Nigam Parshad, and photographs of PM Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Manoj Tiwari, J.P. Nadda, Parvesh Verma, Ramesh Bidhuri and others.
A complaint was given to the police also, but no action was taken, he alleged.
A status report was filed in the year 2022 on behalf of SHO, Police Station. Dwarka South stating that the present complaint was filed in 2019 and at present (at the time of filing status report) no such hoardings have been found displayed at the alleged spot and hence, no cognizable offence is made out at present.
In view of the status report, the Metropolitan Magistrate of Dwarka Court had dismissed the complaint on September 15, 2022.
The complainant had filed a revision petition before the Rouse Avenue Court. The petition was allowed and the matter was reverted back for fresh hearing.
The Session Court had directed to decide the application under Section 156(3) of CrPC afresh with a speaking order on the disclosure of a cognizable offence from the allegations made by the complainant. It further directed that the Trial Court shall then decide the question of directions under Section 156(3) CrPC or proceed with the complaint in the manner of a complaint case.
Legal Aid Counsel (LAC) for the complainant had argued that even in the status report, the Enquiry Officer had merely submitted that no hoarding was found on the date of filing of the status report and that the report is silent regarding the existence of hoardings on the date and time as alleged by the complainant.
It was further argued that an investigation is required to be carried out in the present case as it is beyond the means of the complainant to determine who affixed the hoardings in question.
The Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) for the State opposed the plea and argued that the photographs annexed with the complaint show that the details of the printing press are not mentioned on the hoardings, making it impossible to determine where and at whose instance the said hoardings were printed.
It was also submitted that in such circumstances, no purpose would be served by allowing the present application. It is further argued that the complainant had mentioned the names of approximately 8-10 persons as accused, including the name of the Prime Minister of India, in the complaints filed by him in the concerned PS and before the DCP, but most of these names have been omitted from the present application and thus, the present application cannot be said to have been filed after due compliance of Section 154(3) Cr.P.C. With these submissions, it is prayed that there is no need to order registration of an FIR in the present case.
The court rejected the APP’s contention that the omission of certain persons’ names from the present complaint cannot have any bearing on the fate of the present application.
The court had said, “The mentioning or omitting the name of certain persons by the complainant cannot determine the course of investigation. The investigating agency has ample power to array any person as accused, though not named as an accused in the present application/complaint, whose complicity in the commission of the offence is established from the investigation.” (ANI)
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