AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal called the move “dictatorial”.
| Photo Credit: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday alleged that the Delhi police stopped a private screening of a documentary exposing the “secrets” and “conspiracies” behind the arrest of his party leaders by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He called the move “dictatorial”.

In response to the allegations, a senior Delhi police officer told The Hindu after elections are declared political parties are supposed to apply for permission through a single window system at the District Magistrate’s office. “This is a standard process during elections. No such permission was obtained for the said event and hence, the screening would have been a violation of guidelines,” he said. “The Delhi police can neither grant nor reject such permission at this time,” he added.

Mr. Kejriwal said that there is no law against organising a private screening of a film. “We had arranged a special screening of a film made about AAP, for journalists. It was not an election programme — there were no flags of political parties or any speech asking for votes. There is no law that says such an event cannot happen,” he said during a press conference.

“The film uncovers the conspiracies and secrets behind the arrests of AAP leaders over the past two years. It exposes how BJP, through illegal and unconstitutional means, sent AAP leaders to jail,” he added terming the stopping of the screening as “hooliganism” and “dictatorship”.

The Delhi police, a law enforcement agency for the National Capital Territory, come under the jurisdiction of the BJP-lead Central government.

Meanwhile, Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor alleged that amidst the increasing likelihood of defeat in the Assembly election, Mr. Kejriwal has lost his political balance. “Mr. Kejriwal should understand that merely showing his self-produced film at a private screening will not establish his innocence, he will need to prove his innocence in a court of law,” he said.