Court extends Tomar’s troubles

New Delhi: The police custody of former Delhi law minister Jitender Singh Tomar was  extended by two days by a court on Saturday after the police claimed that documents produced by him were “fabricated” and charges under Prevention of Corruption Act might also be invoked in the case. 

Tomar, who was present in the courtroom, told the court he was being harassed by the police and all documents had already been recovered so there was no need for extension of the police remand. 

He also said that his counsel was not allowed to be with him during the four-day custody. “All the registers and documents were seized and signed but I was not allowed to see them,” Tomar alleged. 

Tomar, who was arrested in the case on June 9, was produced before metropolitan magistrate Pooja Aggarwal on expiry of his four-day police remand and the investigators sought extension of his remand by 11 days saying the earlier time period was “not sufficient”. 

The police also said that Tomar was required for further custodial interrogation to know about the persons who had allegedly connived with him in procurement of purported fake educational certificates. 

“Every document produced by him (Tomar) is fabricated and it needs to be probed who are the people in connivance with Tomar in procuring these documents,” police told the court. 

It alleged that records of Tilka Manjhi University, Bhagalpur, Bihar, were “torn which showed connivance of university officials with Tomar” and it might attract charges under the anti-corruption law. 

It said that lots of documents were required to be probed and the four-day remand granted earlier was not sufficient as almost 45 hours were spent in traveling more than 3,000 km. 

Giving details of the probe carried out by it, the police said “Tomar’s migration certificate issued from Bundelkhand University was also fabricated and we need to go there and probe this angle.” 

Opposing the police’s plea, advocate Rajiv Khosla, who appeared for Tomar, said that police had already been to all the places and seized all the documents. 

Khosla said Tomar was not well and the only purpose for extension of remand was to “harass him as police were totally biased and acting on someone’s will”. 

The 48-year-old leader quit as Delhi’s law minister after his arrest, adding to the growing number of controversies that the four-month-old Delhi government led by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal finds itself caught in. 

The Aam Aadmi Party is likely to sack the disgraced ex-minister soon over the allegations of faking academic documents, sources said on Friday, as the controversy threatened to cause lasting damage to the young outfit’s credibility. 

The AAP initiated an internal inquiry amid mounting calls by the BJP and Congress for CM Kejriwal’s resignation as the party’s confidence in the former law minister dimmed. 

“Kejriwal is upset over how things have proceeded since his (Tomar’s) arrest. There is a strong voice in the party against him. Further it came to light that documents which Tomar gave Kejriwal when the controversy began may also have been forged,” said a senior leader.