Delhi LG Saxena Directs Chief Secretary to Recover Rs 97 Crore from AAP for Political Advertisements

GG News Bureau

New Delhi, 20th Dec. According to official sources, Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena has directed the chief secretary to recover Rs 97 crore from the Aam Aadmi Party for political advertisements published under the guise of government advertisements.

A Committee on Content Regulation in Government Advertising had directed the Directorate of Information and Publicity (DIP) in 2016 to quantify the amounts spent by it in such advertisements and recover the same from the ruling AAP after identifying specific advertisements published by the government that were in “stark violation of guidelines,” they added.

The DIP quantified that Rs 97,14,69,137 had been spent or booked on account of “non-conforming advertisements”.

“Of this, 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.

The DIP directed the AAP in 2017 to immediately pay over Rs 42.26 crore to the state exchequer and to pay the pending amount of Rs 54.87 crore to the advertising agencies or publications concerned within 30 days.

“However, even after the lapse of five years and eight months, the AAP has not complied with this DIP order,” the source said.