New Delhi:
A criminal complaint has been filed in a court here against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over his controversial remark about people from Bihar visiting the national capital for free medical treatment.
The complainant, Nitish Kumar, who is a social activist, filed his petition on Wednesday before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Prem Chandra Verma, who in turn referred the matter to the judicial magistrate for further hearing.
In his complaint, Kumar has alleged that he "felt hurt" by Kejriwal's remarks, his lawyer Surendra Kumar Bharti said.
According to a report in a Hindi daily, Kejriwal had said that people from Bihar visit Delhi by purchasing a ticket of Rs 500 and go back after availing free medical treatment worth Rs 5 lakh, Bharti said.
Kumar, in his petition, said the Delhi CM "has behaved irresponsibly and tried to vitiate the peace, unity, sovereignty and harmony of the country and the state".
The plea sought a direction for initiating action against Kejriwal under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration).
Earlier this month, advocate Sudhir Kumar Ojha had also filed a petition in the matter before the Muzaffarpur civil court, seeking directions to the police to file an FIR against Kejriwal for his statement.
Kejriwal made the remarks at an event in Delhi, seeking to underscore his government's efforts to improve the health services in the city.
