Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal has directed chief secretary M M Kutty to recover 97 crore rupees from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The money was allegedly used by the AAP government on advertisements which is in violations of the Supreme Court guidelines.
Mr. Baijal also ordered an inquiry into the spendings on advertisements projecting Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his party and asked the chief secretary to fix responsibility. The AAP will have to reimburse the money within a month.
In a report earlier this month, the Comptroller and Auditor General had also found that the AAP government spent 29 crore rupees in releasing advertisements outside Delhi which was beyond its responsibility.
In 2015, the Supreme Court said that government ads cannot feature Chief Ministers or other political leaders. It exempted photos the Prime Minister, President and Chief Justice of India from its ban. Last year, the court relaxed its rules to permit photos of union ministers and Chief Ministers.