Under immense political pressure in a case involving the genuineness of his educational qualifications, Delhi Law Minister Jitender Singh Tomar, on Tuesday, submitted his resignation to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal hours later a Delhi court remanded him to four-day police custody.
“Jitender Singh Tomar has put in his papers a while back. CM Arvind Kejriwal has accepted the resignation,” Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia remarked in his statement released to the media, late on Tuesday evening, adding that the resignation letter shall be forwarded to L-G Najeeb Jungon Wednesday morning.
Forty-nine-year-old Tomar was produced before Metropolitan Magistrate Navneet Budhiraja within hours of his arrest in the case, which took place in the wee hours of Tuesday. Delhi’s Law Minister has been arrested without any notice or prior information. What is the BJP government doing?” Singh said on Tuesday. “If Modi thinks he can threaten the AAP by sending its leaders to jail or use muscle power, then we are not going to let that happen,” Singh added in his statement.
The Delhi Police had sought to retain him for five-days claiming that his educational certificates relating to law degree were “fabricated” and he was required to be taken to Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh and Bhagalpur in Bihar to ascertain his educational qualification.
An FIR was registered against Tomar on Monday night in Hauz Khas Police Station and he was accused with charges under various sections of the IPC including those related to cheating and criminal conspiracy. Tomar had been interacting with a group of people in his office in Trinagar when about 30-40 policemen took him away on the pretext of getting some documents and then drove him to the Hauz Khas police station, according to his staff.
The Delhi Police told the court that the educational certificates which Tomar claims to be true were “fabricated” and during their initial probe, the authorities who signed those certificates have denied their genuineness.
“Everything (documents) is something which either is denied by the institution or we don’t know as to how these documents came into light. For this we need Tomar’s interrogation,” the police said, adding, that “according to him (Tomar), all these documents (educational certificates) are allegedly true but all those who allegedly signed these documents say they have not signed it.”
Meanwhile, terming the arrest to be “totally unconstitutional”, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said it was an attempt by the Modi government to “teach AAP a lesson” and asserted that no one involved in corruption will be spared. “Attempts are being made to create an Emergency-like situation in Delhi through dictatorship as we have come down hard on those involved in corruption,” stated Sisodia.
Accusing police of treating Tomar as a “mafia” man, Sisodia further remarked that they forcibly put him into a car, without giving any specific reason and seized his vehicle before bringing him to the police station. “Tomar was arrested as if he was a mafia. Was he running away? Did he set off a bomb? What was the emergency, especially when a scam is being reopened? There’s a deep underlying reason behind his arrest.” Also, much after the arrest and AAP alleging “political vendatta”, BJP asked CM Arvind Kejriwal to respect the law and not pick up a fight with everyone.
At a press conference earlier on Tuesday, Delhi Police said K S Saket Post-Graduation College in Ayodhya have told the investigators that no B Sc degree and marks sheets were issued in the name of Jitender Singh Tomar. The police has also said the Tilkamanjhi University in Bihar’s Bhagalpur also termed Tomar’s law degree fake. Law College in Bihar’s Munger from where Tomar claimed he studied law is affiliated to the Tilkamanjhi University.
Tags: AAP Arvind Kejriwal Jitendra Singh Tomar
