Somnath Bharti won’t resign as Delhi’s Law Minister: AAP
NEW DELHI : “The party has not found any evidence against Bharti on three counts. First he did not do anything which was unbecoming of a minister. The preliminary probe by the party has not found him misbehaving or assaulting Ugandan women. He was also not found using any racial slur,” AAP’s chief spokesperson Yogendra Yadav said after the meeting.He also said that action would be taken against the minister if he was found guilty in an inquiry ordered by Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung.The party, though, warned Mr Bharti against the use of “foul language”, referring to his recent remarks against senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley and noted lawyer Harish Salve.
Mr Salve is representing Ugandan women who have filed a police case alleging that they were molested and beaten up by a mob earlier this month which hurled racist slurs at them, called them prostitutes and forced some of them to submit urine samples for drug tests.
They tested negative for drugs in a Delhi hospital. The mob was mobilised allegedly by the Law MinisterOn camera, he is seen arguing with police officers who said they could not raid a house in his constituency or arrest the women because they did not have warran
Accused of vigilantism, of gross racism and sexism, and of “stoking prejudices”, Somnath Bharti has denied all allegations.
A police case has been filed by a Ugandan woman against the controversial “midnight raid” by Mr Bharti, though he is not named in the First Information Report or FIR. Seven women have now deposed in court in connection with the case. Today, one of them asked for a second case to be registered against Mr Bharti. A court has asked the police to explain why it hasn’t done so.
Mr Bharti says that residents in the area had repeatedly urged the police to take action against African nationals trafficking drugs and sex, but that their pleas had been ignored by apathetic officers.
Mr Bharti has so far been supported by Mr Kejriwal, who held a two-day demonstration in the heart of the city to protest against the cops who did not make the arrests ordered by the Law Minister.
