Court summons Kejriwal; Saini drinks from river, AAP says he spat it out

Issuing a notice to Kejriwal, the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Neha Goyal said, “He is directed to appear in-person before this court on the next date of hearing, if he has to say anything in the matter” (Express photo by Amit Mehra)

A court in Haryana’s Sonipat on Wednesday summoned AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on February 17 to present his side on a complaint over his claim that the BJP-ruled state was mixing “poison in the Yamuna waters” before the river enters the Capital.

This came even as Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini took a couple of sips from the Yamuna to press home the point that its water on the Haryana side was clean. The AAP, however, alleged that Saini spat the water back into the Yamuna and did not gulp it down.

Issuing a notice to Kejriwal, the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Neha Goyal said, “He is directed to appear in-person before this court on the next date of hearing, if he has to say anything in the matter. If he does not appear before this court on next date of hearing, it is deemed that he has nothing to say in the matter and further proceedings shall be conducted in accordance with law.”

Under the Section 223 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, an opportunity of being heard is to be given to the accused before the magistrate takes cognizance of the offence.

The court was hearing a complaint filed by Ashish Kaushik, an executive engineer of Haryana Water Services, stationed in Sonipat. The complaint has been filed under Section 54 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 and Section 353 (statements conducing to public mischief) and 356 (defamation) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Meanwhile, in his reply to the Election Commission (EC), Kejriwal cited Delhi Jal Board (DJB) CEO Shilpa Shinde’s letter, which stated that the ammonia concentration is 7 parts per million (ppm). “Indiscriminate discharge of industrial waste” by Haryana government, he said, was the “root cause” of the contamination.

His reply came after the EC, on Tuesday, acting on complaints filed by BJP and Congress leaders, asked Kejriwal to give evidence supporting his allegation that the Haryana government was “poisoning” Delhi’s water supply in the run-up to the February 5 polls.

In his reply, Kejriwal said, “It cannot be denied that safe drinking water is one of the most basic and essential requirements of any civilised society and raising an issue for the society with respect to the same – cannot be termed as committing an offence.”

Shinde, in an earlier letter to the EC, had said that DJB water treatment plants are designed to treat ammonia up to 1 ppm and up to 2.5 ppm can be treated by dilution.

Kejriwal further listed the impact of ammonia on human health, neurological impairment, liver and kidney dysfunction, infant mortality risks and bacterial outbreaks in his reply. “The Delhi government has no role to play with such a high level of toxic water being made available by Haryana, which is an upper-riparian state,” he said. As a remedial measure to the “grave situation”, leading to a shortage of drinking water in Delhi, the chief ministers of Delhi and Punjab immediately requested for the EC intervention, he added.

Amid all this, Saini took a couple of sips from the Yamuna near Dahisra village on the Delhi-Haryana border. He maintained that the Yamuna water on the border of Haryana from where it enters Delhi completely meets the standards and demanded Kejriwal’s apology to the people of Delhi and Haryana for his “false” statement.

The AAP, however, called Saini’s visit to the Palla ghat a PR stunt. Kejriwal alleged on X that Saini couldn’t gulp the water down. “Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini pretended to drink Yamuna’s water… and then spat the same water back into the Yamuna. When I pointed out that due to ammonia contamination, Yamuna’s water could be a threat to the lives of Delhi residents, they threatened to file an FIR against me. The same toxic water they refuse to drink is being supplied to Delhi’s citizens – I will not let this happen,” he posted.

Earlier in the day, before visiting the river bank, Saini hit out at Delhi Chief Minister Atishi, whom he called a “dummy” CM and invited her to to Pall Ghat where he took the sip of water. “There is no poison in the water coming to Delhi from Haryana, but your minds are definitely filled with poison…,” Saini said in a post in Hindi on X.

He was responding to an earlier post on X by Atishi who had requested Saini that “you and I go together” to the Palla Ghat “and take media colleagues along” as well. “We will measure the amount of ammonia in front of everyone. Everyone should know that Haryana is sending poisonous water to the people of Delhi,” she had written.