Pay ₹97 crore: Delhi LG to AAP for publishing 'political ads' in the guise of 'government ads'

In what could turn into a fresh flashpoint between the Delhi government and the Lieutenant Governor, the LG has ordered the recovery of ₹97 crore from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

LG VK Saxena wants AAP to pay for political advertisements which were published in the guise of government advertisements, according to sources quoted by news agency PTI.

Delhi's Chief Secretary has reportedly been ordered to recover the sum of money from the ruling party.

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The Delhi government's Directorate of Information and Publicity (DIP), acting on a 2016 directive from a Committee on Content Regulation in Government Advertising set up by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, had notified that Rs 97.14 crore (Rs 97,14,69,137) had been spent or booked on account of "non-conforming advertisements", sources said.

"Of this, while payments amounting to over Rs 42.26 crore had already been released by the DIP, Rs 54.87 crore for advertisements published were still pending disbursal," sources said.

(With PTI inputs)