'LG sahab doing everything according to BJP': AAP on Delhi LG’s order to pay Rs 97 cr for 'political ads'

Aam Aadmi Party claimed that Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena lacked the authority to issue orders ordering the party's chief secretary to recover Rs 97 crore for "political advertisements" from the party. Speaking at a press conference, Saurabh Bhardwaj, the chief spokesperson for the AAP, called the LG's directive a "new love letter."   "The BJP is flustered that we have become a national party and wrested power from it in the MCD. LG sahab is doing everything in accordance with the BJP's directions and that is troubling the people of Delhi. The more worried Delhi's people are, the happier the BJP gets," Bhardwaj added.   He claimed that legal precedent would not support the LG's directives.   "The Delhi LG has no such power. He cannot issue such directions. These won't stand in front of the law. Other state governments also issue advertisements. The BJP's various state governments issued advertisements that have been published here. We want to ask when will the Rs 22,000 crore spent on the advertisements be recovered from them? The day that money is recovered, we will also give Rs 97 crore," the AAP leader said.   According to PTI, quoting official sources, Delhi LG Saxena has ordered the chief secretary to recover Rs 97 crore from the Aam Aadmi Party for political advertisements it published under the guise of official government advertisements.   Acting on a 2016 directive from a Committee on Content Regulation in Government Advertising established by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the Delhi government's Directorate of Information and Publicity (DIP) announced that Rs 97.14 crore (Rs 97,14,69,137) had been spent or booked on account of "non-conforming advertisements."   "Of this, while payments amounting to over Rs 42.26 crore had already been released by the DIP, Rs 54.87 crore for advertisements published were still pending disbursal," PTI quoted source as saying.   According to them, the DIP ordered the AAP to pay over Rs 42.26 crore to the state exchequer immediately and directly pay the outstanding amount of Rs 54.87 crore to the relevant advertising agencies or publications within 30 days after receiving the directive in 2017.   "However, even after the lapse of five years and eight months, the AAP has not complied with the DIP order. This is serious as public money, despite a specific order, has not been deposited by the party to the state exchequer. Such defiance of a legitimate order by a registered political party is not only contemptuous of the judiciary, but also does not augur well for the health of good governance," the source was quoted as saying.   The Supreme Court proposed rules in 2015 to control government advertising and get rid of wasteful spending. The Committee on Content Regulation in Government Advertising (CCRGA), comprised of three members, was subsequently established by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in 2016.   In September 2016, the CCRGA issued an order identifying the advertisements that were in "stark violation of the guidelines" established by the apex court after looking into advertisements published by the DIP.