Sheila Dikshit is a 'saviour' for booked politicos

Delhi's maverick chief minister Sheila Dikshit has played the magician more than once during her 14-year-rule - making criminal prosecution against a host of Congress and BJP bigwigs disappear.

An RTI reply revealed that the CM, who has been ruling the national Capital continuously since 1998, had exercised her clout to force the government to withdraw criminal cases against late Arjun Singh, former UP chief minister Narayan Datt Tiwari, Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Haryana minister Randeep Singh Surjewala and her cabinet colleague Raj Kumar Chauhan.

The list of beneficiaries includes Syed Ahmad Bukhari, the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid. This she had done with the lieutenant governor's benevolence.

Chief minister Sheila Dikshit has advised L-G Tejendra Khanna (right) to dismiss cases against politicians

The lieutenant governor enjoys special powers to direct the prosecution to withdraw a case under Section 321 of the CrPC.

The Section states that the public prosecutor, with the consent of the court, can 'withdraw from the prosecution of any person' at any time before the judgment is pronounced for certain offences.

The RTI reply to Ramesh Verma shows how the administration went against the Delhi Police's recommendations against the withdrawal of cases. The police registered a case on August 9, 1995, against Tiwari and Arjun Singh for breaking Section 144 of the CrPC near Parliament and clashing with security personnel.

They were then part of a breakaway Congress faction and were booked under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

NO LAW IS STRONG ENOUGH TO REIN THEM IN N.D.TIWARI AND ARJUN SINGH The veteran politicians led protesters on August 9, 1995, who broke curfew near Parliament, ran riot and clashed with the police.

They were booked under various sections of the IPC

SYED AHMAD BUKHARI

He was booked for assaulting an engineer as he did not want the man to construct a wall on government land near a mosque on September 3, 2001

RAJ KUMAR CHAUHAN

He and his supporters had clashed with BJP leader Sahib Singh Verma and his supporters during the telecast of a TV programme on March 20, 2004, and an FIR was registered under various sections of the IPC

'They broke the first security cordon and threw stones at police personnel,' the FIR says.

'The case, even when the court had issued non-bailable warrant against some of the accused, and the FIR were withdrawn after several recommendation letters from Dikshit.

'The CM has desired that the sanction for prosecution for the case should be withdrawn,' her principal secretary S. Regunathan wrote in a letter to the home department on June 6, 2003.

Hooda and Surjewala also benefitted from Dikshit's generosity. They were booked under the West Bengal Prevention of Defacement of Property Act, 1976, and Section 188 of the IPC respectively.

Then DCP (headquarters) H.M. Meena asked the home department in January 2007 that it was 'strongly recommended' that the cases should not be withdrawn.

However, the home ministry decided otherwise because the 'lieutenant governor was satisfied that it was in public interest'.

Bukhari was booked on September 3, 2001, for assaulting CPWD executive engineer B.L. Gupta in charge of building a wall on government land near a mosque.

The police arrested two persons, but spared the Shahi Imam. His case was also declared null and void, despite reservations from the prosecutor. 'Bukhari evaded a bailable warrant and later a non-bailable warrant was issued.

The accused didn't even bother to appear before the court, despite the non-bailable warrant. Withdrawal of the case would send a wrong message to society,' the prosecution said.

Raj Kumar Chauhan, a minister in the Delhi government, had used his rapport with Dikshit to get a case quashed. He and his supporters clashed with BJP leader Sahib Singh Verma and his men during the telecast of a TV programme on March 20, 2004.

'Chauhan and his son Gaurav obstructed the constables while they were performing their official duties, caused injuries to the persons who tried to intervene,' the police said.

Similarly, the lieutenant governor ordered withdrawal of court cases against 16 BJP MLAs, including Jagdish Mukhi, Harsh Vardhan, Karan Singh Tanwar, Shahib Singh Chauhan, Sudhil Chaudhary and Vijay Jolly.

They were booked for breaching Section 144 of the CrPC near the state assembly on November 2, 2006. 'The MLAs violated the prohibitory orders. Case is not fit for withdrawal.

'Conduct of the accused persons was not permissible in the interest of peace and harmony in society,' the prosecutor said. It was overruled. Ranjan Mukherjee, the officer on special duty to the lieutenant governor, declined to comment.