‘Phansi Ghar’ row escalates
New Delhi: Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta on Thursday strongly condemned the construction of a so-called “phansi ghar” (execution room) within the Assembly complex, calling it a “deliberate and fraudulent act” carried out by the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government. He announced that the matter would be referred to the Privileges Committee for a detailed inquiry and said that several key former leaders, including Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Ram Niwas Goel, and Rakhi Birla, would be summoned.
Addressing the House, Speaker Gupta said, “After several days of sustained discussion in this House, supported by verified facts and documents, it has been conclusively established that crores of rupees were spent on constructing a fake gallows and disseminating misleading advertisements within the Delhi Legislative Assembly complex.”
He stated that the previous government failed to justify the existence of the so-called execution room. “Despite being given three days, they failed to provide any logical or factual justification,” he said, adding that “their continued silence has further strengthened the conclusion that this was a deliberate and fraudulent act.”
Displaying a 1912 architectural map of the Assembly building, Gupta argued that the structure identified as a gallows was originally a “tiffin room” and that no evidence had ever existed of executions taking place in the Assembly premises. “This House has reached a decision that there was no phansi ghar or any tunnel that goes from here to Red Fort,” he declared.
The Speaker cited extensive research conducted by institutions like the National Archives of India, the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), and historians from Delhi University and JNU. All experts confirmed that there was no gallows or tunnel in the complex.
“When the so-called gallows was constructed in 2022, coinciding with the commemoration of the Quit India Movement on 9 August, my own emotions, along with those of fellow opposition members, were stirred with patriotic sentiment,” Gupta noted. “However, after assuming the office of
Speaker and reviewing credible research, it became painfully clear that this so-called gallows was a complete fabrication.”
Calling the incident a “grave act of distortion and deceit,” Gupta announced three immediate decisions: the Assembly building would be restored to its original heritage form; the 1912 map would be displayed in both rooms; and the
commemorative plaque installed in 2022, bearing the names of Kejriwal and Sisodia, would be removed.
“Tampering with a heritage building and attempting to falsify history constitute an unforgivable crime against the truth,” he said, vowing action through the Privileges Committee.
