Kejriwal to appear before Assembly panel in ‘Fansi Ghar’ row, seeks live streaming of proceedings
New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday confirmed that he will appear before the Delhi Assembly’s Privileges Committee on March 6 in connection with the “Fansi Ghar (Gallows Gallery)” controversy, and sought live streaming of the proceedings for transparency.
The Delhi Assembly’s Privileges Committee had directed Kejriwal and his former deputy Manish Sisodia to appear before it on March 6 over questions regarding the authenticity of claims linked to the “Fansi Ghar” issue.
Confirming his attendance, Kejriwal posted on X, “Delhi is grappling with pollution. The roads are lying broken. There are piles of garbage everywhere. Hospitals are out of medicines. The Delhi Assembly has summoned me to question me about the ‘Fansi Ghar’.”
“I have written a letter to the Privileges Committee informing them that I will attend as per their summons on March 6. Keeping transparency in mind, I request that the proceedings be live-streamed,” he said in the post.
Kejriwal also attached a copy of his letter addressed to the Committee along with the social media post.
In his communication to the panel, he wrote, “In compliance with the said notice, I shall appear in person before the Committee of Privileges on 06.03.2026 at 03:00 p.m., at the venue mentioned therein. My appearance is without prejudice to my legal and constitutional rights, remedies, objections, and contentions, all of which are expressly reserved.”
“In the interest of transparency and public accountability, I request that the proceedings of the Committee in the present matter be live-streamed. Kindly acknowledge receipt of this communication,” he added.
The controversy dates back to 2021 during the AAP government’s tenure, when the then Speaker of the Delhi Assembly, Ram Niwas Goel, had claimed that chambers located beneath the Assembly building functioned as a phansi ghar, or gallows, during British rule.
He had asserted that an underground tunnel connected the Assembly complex to the Red Fort and was likely used by the British authorities to transport death row convicts for execution.
The current BJP government in Delhi, led by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, has rejected the earlier claim made under the AAP administration.
The BJP dispensation has maintained that the underground chambers were not gallows but merely contained a service staircase used during the British era to deliver tiffin trays within the premises.