'Will challenge LG's Rs 97 cr order on ads in court'

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal termed as "wrong" Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal's order to recover Rs 97 crore from the Aam Aadmi Party for allegedly spending on the advertisements and said it will be challenged in the court.

The CM's remark on Monday comes after Baijal had last month directed Chief Secretary M M Kutty to recover Rs 97 crore from the party that was allegedly "splurged" by the Delhi government on advertisements in violation of the Supreme Court guidelines.

"The LG's order to pay Rs 97 crore is totally wrong. We will challenge the order in the court," Kejriwal said. He also sought reasons behind "targeting" of the AAP government.

The LG had also ordered an inquiry into the spending on advertisements projecting Kejriwal and his party, and asked the Chief Secretary to fix responsibility.

"The first logic (behind the LG's order) was that my government gave advertisements outside Delhi. Several state governments - Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh - give advertisements in newspapers in Delhi. Why no such order for them? Why is only my government being targeted?" Kejriwal questioned.

He further stated that the second reason given in the LG's order was that the advertisements carried his photos in violation of the rules.

"Photos of Chief Minister's are given in advertisements of a state government, which is not violation of the Supreme Court's order," Kejriwal asserted.

Last year, on the direction of the Apex Court, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had formed a three-member committee, headed by former Chief Election Commissioner B B Tandon, to address issues related to content regulation in government advertising.

In its report, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had said that the AAP government had spent Rs 29 crore in releasing advertisements outside Delhi which was "beyond" its responsibility.

The report, tabled in Delhi Assembly on March 10, also said that advertisements worth Rs 24 crore were released by the AAP government in violation of the financial propriety and the Supreme Court regulations.

The AAP government had rejected the report.

Meanwhile, late on Monday, the Delhi government ordered an inquiry, including examining call details of suspected staff, who might have "leaked" copies of LG's order on recovery of Rs 97 crore from the AAP for ads spendings.