New Delhi: Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena has directed the chief secretary to recover Rs 97 crore from the Aam Aadmi Party, which it used for state government ads that were allegedly used for the party’s promotion instead.
The action was taken after the AAP allegedly violated orders of the Supreme Court (2015) and the Delhi High Court (2016), besides norms set by the court-mandated Committee on Content Regulation in Government Advertising (2016).
The Directorate of Information and Publicity (DIP) has said that Rs 97,14,69,137 had been spent or booked on account of “non-conforming advertisements”.
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, a source said.
In 2017, the DIP directed the AAP to pay over Rs 42.26 crore to the state exchequer immediately and directly pay the pending amount of Rs 54.87 crore to the advertising agencies or publications concerned within 30 days.
However, the AAP has not complied with this DIP order, the source said.
Earlier this month, the AAP, which holds power in the Delhi assembly since 2015, ended the 15-year reign of the BJP in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).
