A dispute over road work in west Delhi’s Tilak Nagar has escalated into a defamation case, with Aam Aadmi Party MLA Jarnail Singh filing proceedings against Delhi Public Works Department Minister Parvesh Verma after an alleged slapping incident during a road inspection.
Singh announced the filing on Thursday and sought an apology from Verma over the incident involving a 22-year-old man, identified as Sahib Singh. According to Singh, the minister kicked and slapped the youth after he was seen recording the inspection on a mobile phone. Singh said Verma had seven days to respond and apologise.
The case follows a confrontation linked to the condition of a road in Tilak Nagar. Singh questioned claims about the quality of the road work and sought the release of a third-party audit report. He also said the road remained in poor condition a week after the episode, keeping the focus on whether the public works project met the required standards.
The incident has produced legal action involving multiple political figures. Police have registered a First Information Report against AAP’s Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj, Singh and several party workers for allegedly assaulting a head constable and obstructing him from performing his duties. The allegations relate to events following the confrontation and are separate from the complaint involving Verma.
Police have also filed a non-cognisable report against Verma over the alleged slapping of Sahib Singh during the road inspection. The report, as cited by Millennium Post, does not establish a final finding of guilt against any of the individuals named in the police action or the defamation proceedings.
The dispute has therefore moved beyond a political confrontation and into questions about how road inspections are conducted, how complaints about public works are handled and whether independent audits are made available when the quality of completed work is challenged. Singh’s demand for the third-party audit report places the document at the centre of the continuing dispute.
The matter also highlights the overlapping accountability mechanisms involved in civic works. A road project can be questioned through an audit or departmental process, while conduct during an inspection may lead to police or court proceedings. In this case, the reported police actions and the defamation case are unfolding alongside the unresolved disagreement over the road’s condition.
Singh’s seven-day response deadline for Verma is the next stated step in the defamation proceedings. The report does not provide details of the court in which the case was filed, the specific sections invoked or the status of the third-party audit report.
