In a fresh setback for Arvind Kejriwal, who is out on bail in a case related to the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam and lost the Delhi Assembly elections – including his own constituency of New Delhi – last month, a court in the national capital has directed that a first information report (FIR) be registered against him and others from the Aam Aadmi Party over allegedly misusing public funds to put up large hoardings.

Hearing a petition seeking cases against Mr Kejriwal and two other leaders, Gulab Singh and Nikita Sharma, the Rouse Avenue Court directed the Delhi Police to register the FIR and asked for a compliance report by March 18. The case dates back to 2019 and a lower court had earlier refused to allow the petition.

In the over 10 years that the AAP was in power in Delhi, the BJP had repeatedly accused the party of misusing public money for its own publicity. In January, last year, the Directorate of Information and Publicity had also asked the AAP to reimburse Rs 163.62 crore, including interest, for allegedly misusing public funds for political advertisements. 

Even in January this year, the BJP had alleged that the AAP spent more on publicising some schemes than the money actually allotted for them. It claimed that while Rs 54 crore was allocated to the Business Blasters scheme, Rs 80 crore was spent on promoting it. For the Desh Ke Mentor scheme – which was meant to connect voluntary mentors with students of Classes 9-12 in Delhi government schools – the BJP claimed only Rs 1.9 crore was allotted and Rs 27.9 crore was spent on its publicity. The figures for the Stubble Management scheme were an allotment of Rs 77 lakh against nearly Rs 28 crore spent on promotion. 

The AAP has denied all the charges. 

Mr Kejriwal and the AAP were also in the crosshairs of the BJP for the money spent on the renovation and alleged extravagances at the Delhi chief minister’s bungalow, which the party has derisively termed ‘Sheeshmahal’, when the AAP chief held the top job in the Delhi government. 

The AAP has maintained that the new furnishings and upgrades were necessary as the chief minister’s residence had been built in 1942 and needed a complete overhaul. The party also claimed that the Public Works Department had recommended the changes, but the issue is seen as having cost Mr Kejriwal and the party dear in the Delhi Assembly elections. 

From over 60 seats in the 70-member Assembly in 2019, the AAP was reduced to just 22 while the BJP won 48, forming a government in Delhi after a gap of 26 years. The knockout blow was delivered by Parvesh Verma of the BJP who defeated Mr Kejriwal from the New Delhi constituency with a margin of over 4,000 votes.