Court tells police to expedite probe into defacement case against Kejriwal and others

New Delhi: A court has directed Delhi Police to expedite its investigation into a public property defacement case against former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, as the police sought more time to interrogate him. Additional chief judicial magistrate Neha Mittal told the investigation officer to file a status report on the next date of hearing, Dec 3. During the last hearing on Sept 29, the court granted time to the officer to conclude the probe. At the hearing, the officer told the court that former AAP MLA Gulab Singh and MCD councillor Nitika Sharma had been questioned. However, Kejriwal's statement could not be recorded as he was not present in the capital. "Some more time is required to conclude the investigation," the officer said. The case stems from an application filed by Shiv Kumar Saxena, who alleged that Kejriwal and other political figures misused public funds to display hoardings at various locations in Dwarka in 2019. Saxena mentioned the names of 8-10 people, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, BJP president JP Nadda, MP Manoj Tiwari and Pravesh Verma, but most of these names were omitted from the present complaint. Following a court order, an FIR was registered in this case against Kejriwal, Singh and Nitika Sharma on March 11 under Section 3 of the Delhi Prevention of Defacement of Property Act, 2007, which deals with penalties for defacing public property. The section mandates maximum punishment of a year in prison and a fine of up to Rs 50,000.