LG seeks reimbursement of Rs. 97 crore from AAP over advertisements

New Delhi [India], Mar. 29 (ANI): Delhi Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal on Wednesday directed the Chief Secretary to recover Rs. 97 crore spent on advertisements from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for advertisements projecting Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the party, in violation of the Supreme Court guidelines. The Committee on Content Regulation of Government Advertising (CCRGA) had forwarded its report to the Chief Secretary, government of NCT of Delhi for further necessary action. The Committee had directed the government of NCT of Delhi to assess the expenditure incurred by it on certain categories of advertisements and get it reimbursed from the AAP. AAP has been advised to pay directly to the agencies concerned in respect of remaining advertisements whose payment has not been released so far by the government. The notice so issued gives full details of all advertisements and a time line of 30 days from the date of issue to reimburse the requisite amount to the government exchequer. Earlier this month, the CAG presented its report on social sector for the financial year 2015-16 in the Delhi Assembly, where it was highlighted that over Rs. 28 crore was spent on advertisements in areas outside of Delhi, which do not fall under the government's jurisdiction. Additionally, the AAP government was also pulled up for violating the Supreme Court's 'political neutrality' clause by highlighting the name and symbol of the party in official advertisements, and also for terming the Delhi Government as 'Kejriwal sarkar' or 'Jhadu sarkar'. The CAG's report also highlighted the presence of unverified content on the advertisement campaigns. In terms of budget allocation on Mohalla clinics, the Delhi budget highlighted that the expenditure has been reduced from Rs. five crore to Rs. 20 lakh. However, the Governemnt was not able to present any document in support of this claim. (ANI)