A CBI inquiry for what?

Dikshit defended her stance in the House, saying that she could not make any comments because she could not figure out what was being said in the ruckus created by the Opposition. “We gave a 15-day notice to every godown owner in Delhi to declare their stock. We are not being vindictive. What do they want? Do they want us to stop the raids?” the upset CM said, seeming to have completely missed the Opposition’s point.

She also said the press came to know about the raids from the Secretary, Food and Supply, K. Sethuraman’s press briefings, whereas there was no such briefing.

It, however, did not take the CM long to organise a damage control operation. Two denials were issued, one from the Commissioner of Food and Supply and another from Congress MLA Mangat Ram Singal, in response to the BJP’s allegations.

A senior official of the Delhi Government revealed that there was a long meeting at the CM’s office in which both Sethuraman, and DC Enforcement, K.G.R. Burman, who conducted the raids, were present. Both of them were hauled up by the CM.

After the meeting, the Commissioner of Food and Civil Supplies issued a denial: “No MLA was involved in the inspection of a licensee by the officials of the department as alleged in a section of the press”. It also stated that reports “that action against a licensee who is also an MLA had not been initiated because of pressure from above” were wrong.

Singal’s denial stated that the news item was fictitious, malicious and defamatory. “I do not own any godown where dals (pulses) are stored and no raids whatsoever have been conducted on my premises by any government department,” he said.