The Arvind Kejriwal government today slapped a showcause notice on Delhi Commission for Women chief Barkha Singh, asking why she should not be removed from the post for allegedly abusing power in dealing with a complaint against ruling AAP leader Kumar Vishwas.
The Government has asked Singh, a former Congress MLA who is due to retire as DCW chief in July, to file her reply to the showcause notice within three days which it said was issued following complaints against her by a member of the panel.
Complaints have been received from Juhi Khan, member of DCW, "bringing to the notice of the government the irregular activities being carried out by you (Singh) in the capacity of Chairperson of DCW while dealing with a complaint filed by someone against Kumar Vishwas," the showcause notice said.
Earlier this month, the DCW chief had issued summons to Vishwas after an AAP volunteer accused him of not rebutting "rumours" about an illicit liaison with her and ruining her reputation. DCW member Khan had protested the summons to Vishwas and accused Singh of trying to defame the AAP leader.
"The notice issued by the Commission to Vishwas does not in any way relate to any of the matters it can deal and prima facie the manner in which the notice has been issued is outside the scope of the Commission of which you are the chairperson.
"Further, the persons connected to the alleged incident are residents of state of Uttar Pradesh and the place of alleged incident is also in UP, hence prima facie, your notice is beyond the jurisdiction of the Commission," the government said in the notice.
It said Singh, on May 5, held a press conference on the issue though there is no provision in the 'Complaint Handling Policy' of the Commission to hold public press conference in any matter when such case is pending before DCW for decision.
"At this press conference, you (Singh) had not only prevented another member of the Commission from placing her views but also you in person had maligned the member of Commission in full public view only because she had a different viewpoint and further you charged her of being member of AAP without any such facts being placed before you," the notice said.
