Chandigarh Apr 23 PTI The ruling AAP in Punjab on Saturday slammed the Congress over warrants issued against farmers who defaulted on loans in Ferozepur and accused it of trying to defame the Bhagwant Mann-led government in the stateAAP spokesperson Malwinder Singh Kang said the warrants were issued in December 2021 under the Charanjit Singh Channi-led government in PunjabAfter the formation of the AAP government some officers of the department concerned renewed those warrants but as soon as the state government came to know about it the arrest warrants were withdrawn Kang told reporters hereAround 930 farmers of Ferozepur district were issued warrants by the state land mortgage bank following non-payment of loans Farmer unions had threatened to launch a stir against the moveKang said Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has directed officials not to issue any summons or warrants against farmers stating that the government was formulating a new policy to bring farmers out of the mire of debt and make farming a profitable professionLater Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema directed the cooperative banks not to issue warrants against farmers for non-payment of debts PTI CHS VSD IJT IJT

New Delhi Mar 24 PTI AAP MLA Vishesh Ravi on Thursday called for amending the Delhi Professional Colleges or Institutions Act 2007 to change the definition of Delhi candidate and pave the way for them to get the benefit of quota under the lawThe act provides for prohibition of capitation fee regulation of admission fixation of non-exploitative fee allotment of seats to SC ST and other socially and economically backward classes and other measures to ensure equity and excellence in professional education in DelhiThe Karol Bagh legislator said as of now the Act defines a Delhi candidate as one who has appeared or passed the qualifying examination from a recognized school or institution situated in DelhiI have proposed the definition be changed to one who has appeared or passed the qualifying examination from a recognized school or institution situated in Delhi or is a resident of Delhi he said This amendment will greatly benefit the SC-ST candidates as well as it will pave the way for them to get their constitutionally guaranteed reservation as per governmental norms the MLA saidHe claimed that under the current law Delhi candidates battle it out for seats and opportunities in the 15 per cent of seats available for non-Delhi candidates both of reserved and unreserved categoriesTo prove Delhi residentship birth certificate caste certificate domicile certificate issued by the Delhi Government or any approved five-year proof to prove the residentship of Delhi can be added Ravi saidThe MLA said that he has come across several deserving meritorious students being bereft of the benefits of this act due to the definition of Delhi candidate and hence decided to take up the matterAssembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel has referred the matter to the Education Committee of the Delhi Vidhan Sabha PTI SLB NSD NSD

New Delhi Jan 29 PTI The AAP on Saturday termed the BJP-ruled South Delhi Municipal Corporations directive to its officials not to answer the questions sent by the Assemblys privilege committee a contempt of the House and alleged it was done to hide corruptionThe BJP sought to justify the South Delhi Municipal Corporations SDMC decision describing it logically correctAam Aadmi Party chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said the SDMCs directive came days after the three BJP-ruled civic bodies replied to an AAP MLAs question in the Assembly that they had no information about hoardings of the saffron party and its leaders in their areas and the matter was referred to the privilege committeeHowever Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor asked when the Arvind Kejriwal government was not implementing the 4th and 5th Delhi Finance Commission recommendations on funds for civic bodies after accepting them in Delhi assembly how does the AAP expect the corporations to reply to the assemblys queriesThe SDMC on Friday asked its officials not to answer questions from the Delhi Assemblys privilege committee after a proposal moved by SDMCs Leader of the House Inderjeet Sehrawat in this connection was approved by the standing committee of the civic bodySehrawat said the privilege committee of the Delhi Assembly had sought answers for several starred and unstarred questions asked during its session held on January 3 and 4 and the civic body provided replies along with documents to all these questions but the privilege committee termed them unsatisfactory and incompleteBy these tactics Assembly committees are just harassing the SDMC officials and interfering in the day-to-day functioning of the civic body Many questions are irrelevant and not in the interest of the public he had told PTILashing out at the BJP AAP leader Bharadwaj on Saturday alleged that the SDMCs decision was aimed at covering up the saffron partys corruptionIt is contempt of Delhi Vidhan Sabha breach of privilege the AAP spokesperson chargedHe said an AAP MLA had sought to know from all the three municipal corporations if the BJP was paying for putting up political hoardings in their areasThe commissioners of all three corporations stated in their reply that they had no information about it BJP hoardings The Delhi Assembly referred this question to the privileges committee after a resolution was passed There is no street in Delhi left without any political hoarding of the BJP Prime Minister Narendra Modi BJP MPs mayors and the state BJP leaders he addedBharadwaj claimed that the civic bodies have been incurring a loss of Rs 2680 crore per annum as the hoardings of the BJP and its leaders have been put up across the city for freeOne hoarding is supposed to generate Rs 1 lakh -115 lakh revenue each month he addedIn a statement Delhi BJP spokesperson hit back saying It is surprising that MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj calls sites where BJP hoardings are placed as illegal but he and his colleagues turn a blind eye when at the same sites hoardings of Arvind Kejriwals birthday greetings or his party programmes are put up This shows the AAPs duplicity he charged PTI PK NSD NSD

Chandigarh Jan 21 PTI AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi will face defeat from his Chamkaur Sahib seat in the next month state assembly polls as he cited some survey to corroborate his claim The Delhi Chief Minister further said that people are shocked to see the seizure of crores of rupees from Channis nephew during the recent Enforcement Directorate raids Our survey is showing that Channi ji is losing from Chamkaur Sahib People are shocked to see on TV the ED officers counting bundles of notes said Kejriwal in a tweet Channi will fight the February 20 state assembly polls from the Chamkaur Sahib seat The Aam Aadmi Party has been attacking Channi ever since the ED carried out raids at many places including at the premises of Channis nephew Kejriwal had on Wednesday said Channi is not a common man but a dishonest man as he sought to corner the Congress leader over the ED raids The AAP convenor through his comment had sought to target the common man image which Channi has tried to cultivate following his elevation as the chief minister last year Channi aam aadmi nahi baiman aadmi hai Channi is not a common man he is a dishonest man Kejriwal had tweeted in Hindi attacking the CM on Wednesday AAP leader Raghav Chadha on Thursday had asked Channi to explain the recovery of huge sums of cash seized during the ED raids from the premises linked to his relative The ED on Wednesday had said it seized cash amounting to over Rs 10 crore including about Rs 8 crore from a relative of Channi during raids conducted in connection with an anti-money laundering investigation against illegal sand-mining operations in the poll-bound state In a statement the Enforcement Directorate ED had said incriminating documents related to illegal sand mining and property transactions mobile phones gold worth more than Rs 21 lakh and a Rolex watch worth Rs 12 lakh were also seized during the searches that ended on Wednesday Notably Channi on Wednesday had accused the BJP-led central government of hatching a conspiracy to trap him in the case in which raids were conducted by the ED at many places in Punjab The Congress on Thursday hadcomplained to the Election Commission of India ECI seeking stern action against the ED officials for carrying out illegal and malafide raids to defame Channi and the incumbent state government PTI CHS SUN RCJ RCJ

New Delhi Nov 26 PTI The AAP government Friday told the Delhi High Court that on account of the Lieutenant Governor appointing police chosen lawyers as special public prosecutors SPPs for cases related to this years Republic Day violence and last years riots there was now no difference between the investigating agency and prosecution Senior lawyers for Delhi government told a bench headed by Chief Justice D N Patel hearing Delhi governments challenge to the appointments that in criminal justice system prosecutors are officers of the court but presently there is complete synergy between them and the police There is no difference between the police and prosecution today What is the fairness left in the entire criminal procedure today questioned senior advocate Rahul Mehra who appeared for the Delhi government He stated that the appointment of prosecutors was in the domain of the government and the LG was bound by the aid and advice of the council of ministers Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi appearing for the Delhi government stated that while the matter was of great urgency the respondents -- LG and Centre -- were yet to file their response This is a matter of great urgency The court gave four weeks for filing counter Now it is more than nine weeks and no counter is filed We are in grave urgency This is an uncertainty that can be avoided he argued urging the court to close the respondents right to file counter if not done before the next date of hearing The bench also comprising Justice Jyoti Singh granted time to the respondents to file their response and listed the case for further hearing on January 28 On August 27 the court had issued notice on the Delhi governments plea asked the LG and the Centre to file response to the petition as well as an application seeking stay on the decision The Delhi government has challenged the LGs July 23 order appointing Delhi Police chosen lawyers as SPPs to appear and conduct prosecution in cases relating to violence during the farmers tractor rally on January 26 this year and the north-east Delhi riots cases of February 2020 saying that it results in a serious conflict of interest The petition has also challenged the July 26 notification on the appointment of the Delhi Police chosen SPPs to conduct the cases and also August 4 order of the Centre endorsing the LGs view and approving the appointments The plea contended that it is contrary to established legal principles and violates the Constitutional guarantee of a fair trial It has said the SPPs are taking charge of the matters by displacing the regular public prosecutors and therefore urgent directions are required from the court to enable them to continue so as to not jeopardise fair trial in the cases The Delhi Government has contended that appointment of SPPs is a routine matter and not an exceptional matter for which reference to the President can be made and that the LG had no sound reason for referring the matter to the President when the government had agreed to appoint independent SPPs PTI ADS SA

New Delhi Sep 23 PTI The AAP Thursday claimed that the BJP-ruled North MCD has not implemented the rollback of Trade Factory Licence Fees yet and is misleading people before elections allegations the saffron party rejected as an attempt to politicise peoples problemsAddressing a press conference AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj claimed the BJP is lying to the people of Delhi by saying the MCD has reduced House Tax Licence Fees He said north MCD commissioner has refuted all their claims in writingThe BJP-ruled MCD hasnt implemented the rollback of Trade Factory Licence Fees yet and is misleading people before elections he saidHe claimed the BJP-ruled MCD functions like a Khap Panchayat and has no credibility or rule of law and sells lies to peopleThe BJP is lying about rolling back house tax for plot sizes up to 50 sqm as well The BJP increased several licence fees by 17-25 times last year now putting up posters saying theyve reduced them when they have actually done nothing he saidDelhi BJP Spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said that Bhardwajs press statement has come out as a proof of his politically immature conductHis statement that the BJP-ruled North DMC has misled people on the withdrawal of hiked trade license fees etc apart from property tax waiver is another proof of his political administrative immaturity Kapoor saidNorth DMCs general house standing committee has already approved the withdrawal of hiked charges and property tax waiver which are now awaiting notification by the administrative wing Such notifications take a few weeks time and are likely to happen anytime next week he addedThe Delhi BJP Spokesperson has said that problem of AAP leaders is that they are not interested in solution of peoples problems but in doing politics over them PTI UZM VIT TIR TIR

New Delhi Aug 25 PTI AAP MLA Raghav Chadha on Tuesday launched Mission Sahara to help the transgender community in his constituencyChadha distributed free ration kits comprising rice wheat oil and spices among transgenders in the Rajinder Nagar constituency under the initiative according to a statementHe launched the mission after the area district magistrate along with a non-profit organisation Community Empowerment Trust approached him to help the transgender community which has witnessed tough times in the pandemic it said PTI UZM ANB ANB