The Centre on Tuesday told the Delhi High Court that AAP MLA Rituraj Govind has violated the State Emblem of India Act by allegedly issuing identity cards with the state emblem printed on them to party volunteers and was liable to be punished for the same.

New Delhi: The Centre on Tuesday told the Delhi High Court that AAP MLA Rituraj Govind has violated the State Emblem of India Act by allegedly issuing identity cards with the state emblem printed on them to party volunteers and was liable to be punished for the same.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) made the submission in an affidavit filed before Justice V P Vaish, who is hearing a plea seeking the AAP MLA's prosecution.

"The alleged act of the Respondent 5 (Govind) is in contravention of the provisions laid down under the State Emblem of India (Prohibition of Improper Use) Act, 2005.

"The Respondent 5 has neither sought any permission from answering Respondent l (MHA) nor any permission has been granted by the answering Respondent l to Respondent 5 to use the State Emblem in the identity cards issued by him to the representatives/workers of Respondent 4 (Aam Aadmi Party).

"The Respondent 5 is liable to be punished under section 7(1) of the Act for alleged violation of the provisions laid down under section 3 of the Act," the ministry has said in its affidavit.

Section 7(1) of the Act says that "any person who contravenes the provisions of section 3 of the Act shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine which may extend to Rs 5000, or with both..."

The ministry also said that in view of the matter pending before the court, it has not taken any action against Govind.

The petition filed by Pratyush Kanth, a former journalist and now a member of the Congress, has alleged misuse of the state emblem by the AAP MLA.

"The ID cards issued by the party MLA has the designation of the worker written as 'In-charge Anti Corruption' along with his name and address," the petition, filed through advocate Gaurang Kanth, alleged.

The court on 8 April had restrained Govind, who represents Kirari Assembly constituency of north west Delhi, from issuing further identity cards carrying the state emblem to party volunteers.

Kanth in his petition also alleged that residents of the area are under the impression that the AAP MLA has distributed "government jobs" as Govind has allegedly termed the issuance of ID cards as "Kirari Sarkari Naukri Mela".

The petitioner has also alleged that the "young 'officers' of AAP government, who were conned into thinking that they are a legal arm of the government, started harassing small-time traders of Kirari, especially those who had not supported AAP during the recently-held elections".

These representatives were also asking the people about their financial and social information, the petition has alleged.

PTI