New Delhi : The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday attacked the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) after it submitted a reply to the Delhi High Court that proceedings against party leader Kumar Vishwas were closed.
The party said the chief of the institution tried to malign Vishwas’s image.
Addressing a press conference here, AAP leaders Somnath Bharti and Dilip Pandey contended that the complaints against Vishwas were attempts to “malign his image” and termed the DCW’s response to the court as the “victory of truth”.
“DCW’s response in the high court is the victory of truth,” said Bharti.
“Agencies like DCW should not try to malign the personal life of people like us or act under any political influence,” he added.
Attacking the DCW chief for misusing the body as a “political tool”, party leader Dilip Pandey said: “They entertained an illogical complaint against Vishwas and even held a press conference against him. Does not that amount to misuse of the women’s panel as a political tool?”
However, DCW chairperson Barkha Singh denied suggestions that the panel had closed the case against Vishwas over allegations that he was not denying “rumours” about an illicit relation with an AAP volunteer.
“Since we have handed over the case to the police after he (Vishwas) did not appear before the panel after being summoned twice, we are not the competent authority to pursue the matter,” Singh said.
Barkha Singh is a Congress leader. Her term as DCW chief is ending on July 18.
Meanwhile, Vishwas targeted the media over the entire coverage of the issue.
“Do mediahouses who played #VishwasLeela #VishwasKaand #VishwasScandal hashtags have guts to ask 4 apology from my family, as DCW claim fails?” Vishwas tweeted.
The high court on Wednesday was informed by DCW chairperson Barkha Singh that no proceedings were pending against Vishwas on the complaint filed by the party’s woman volunteer.
The complainant had taken part in Vishwas’s campaign in the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency in the 2014 general election. She had gone public asking him to deny “rumours” of their alleged affair.
She later approached the DCW which had summoned Vishwas.