Tomar case: Prakash Javadekar asks Kejriwal to step down and apologise

Union Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar addressing a press conference in Mumbai on Wednesday. Pic/PTI

Amid the face-off between Delhi government and the Centre over Jitender Singh Tomar's alleged fake degrees, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on moral grounds and asked him to apologise to the people for backing his erstwhile ministerial colleague.

Dubbing the Tomar episode as a 'shameful open-and-shut case of forging papers', Javadekar said it was difficult to believe that Kejriwal was not aware of the facts of the case.

Union Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar addressing a press conference in Mumbai on Wednesday. Pic/PTI

"How can the CM (Kejriwal) not know that the degree provided (in records) by his law minister was fake? The government went all out to support his appointment but he finally had to resign. This is a shameful open-and-shut case of forging papers," Javadekar told reporters here.

"(Arvind) Kejriwal needs to apologise to the people of the country because he came to power on the plank of providing a corruption-free government and he has given Delhi the most corrupt government. The true face of the party has come out now. Therefore, he (Kejriwal) should resign on moral grounds," he said.

Tomar, MLA from Trinagar who was Law Minister in the AAP government, was remanded in four-day police custody yesterday after the Delhi police arrested him on allegations that he not only submitted fake science graduation degree and law mark sheets to register with the Bar Council of Delhi, but also forged a migration certificate.

Tomar was today taken to Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh by the Delhi police for an on the spot verification and questioning, even as he continued to maintain that allegations were false and accused the Centre of 'conspiracy'.