New Delhi, Jul 23 (PTI) Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Tilak Nagar MLA Jarnail Singh on Wednesday accused the BJP government in Delhi of “bulldozing democracy” and targeting small businessmen by launching “arbitrary” sealing drives at markets, without following due process.
No immediate response was available from the city government or the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the allegations.
Addressing a press conference here, Singh alleged that a shop in the Tilak Nagar market was sealed by the revenue department without issuing a prior show-cause notice, in a “clear violation” of the principles of natural justice.
This comes amid growing tensions over anti-encroachment drives in parts of the city, with the opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) claiming that the action has disproportionately affected lower-income communities.
“At around 4 pm on Tuesday, I got a call from shopkeepers from the Tilak Nagar market, saying a team had arrived to seal a shop. On reaching, I found out that the team led by the Patel Nagar sub-divisional magistrate, accompanied by police officers, had already started sealing the shop,” Singh said.
The AAP leader claimed that no show-cause notice was served on the shopkeeper prior to the action. “This is my fourth tenure as an MLA and I have never seen law being bypassed like this,” he said.
“A temporary counter placed outside the shop was cited as an encroachment and the sealing began immediately. This is nothing but tyranny,” Singh said, adding that if such actions continue, even a chair kept outside a shop could become a ground for sealing.
The AAP MLA also questioned the “silence” of Chief Minister Rekha Gupta over the issue, claiming that her officers are harassing traders and stressing that she should clarify her government’s policy towards Delhi’s shopkeepers.
He further claimed that the incident drew a strong resistance from the market community, following which the sealing was halted. However, he alleged that police returned at 10:30 pm with a backdated notice to justify the earlier action.
“We have a video that shows police handing over the notice after the events took place,” Singh said.
Calling the move “vendetta politics”, he said several markets, including the one at Rajouri Garden, have reported getting similar notices.
“There is a trend of selectively targeting certain shopkeepers. Others are let off with a mere two-line note,” he alleged.
Singh demanded an immediate halt to what he called “arbitrary and illegal” sealing actions, adding that the AAP would continue to resist such actions in the future.
He said the “four-engine” government has failed to live up to its promises and that people now regret choosing it over Arvind Kejriwal’s government. PTI COR MHS RC
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