Swati Maliwal must answer on ACB's charges: BJP

New Delhi, Sept. 20 (ANI): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday said that Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal must answer on the charges made against her by the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) over irregular appointment of staff in the Commission. "The FIR is filed when a person violates the law. Surely, Swati Maliwal might have violated the law. From the past one year, we can see that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ministers and Aam Aadmi Party MLAs are continuously violating the law and if an FIR has been lodged then surely the police might have investigated the matter," Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyay told ANI. Earlier today, the ACB filed an FIR against Maliwal over alleged irregularities in appointment of staff in the DCW. The FIR has been filed under the Prevention of Corruption Act and comes after Maliwal was grilled by the ACB yesterday over the matter. Speaking to the media after being questioned, Maliwal said that they have asked her 27 questions and have given her a week to respond, adding that the questions pertain to how the DCW managed to make so many appointments. "In the past one year, we have handled 11,500 cases and attended 2.25 lakh calls. In the past eight years, the former chairperson managed only one case. What is troubling everyone is how we managed to do so much work? We will cooperate with the investigation," Maliwal said. The DCW is under the ACB scanner for arbitrarily appointing 85 people in the past year. Around 90 percent of contractual staff of the DCW is AAP members. Last month, Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal had said that Maliwal would be arrested soon as there are numerous decisions of the AAP-led Delhi Government which Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to be reversed through Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung. Earlier, the ACB had conducted raid at Maliwal's office following a complaint by former DCW chief Barkha Shukla Singh alleging that it was indulging in illegal practices of appointing its party associates to plum posts. However, Maliwal responded saying she won't "be scared or silenced", adding the DCW will continue working for women. (ANI)