Caught on camera: Somnath Bharti's lawyers, Delhi women's panel chief in shouting match

The head of the women's commission, Barkha Singh, said the panel's guidelines did not allow it to acknowledge representation by lawyers. "I will write a letter to the Lieutenant Governor and ask for the resignation of the Law Minister," said a furious Ms Singh.

Mr Bharti had earlier not appeared before the commission after two notices. The panel had warned that if he didn't respond to its summons for a third time, he would face an FIR or a First Information Report.

The office of Mr Bharti, who is a lawyer, claims that it has not received these notices as they were delivered to a wrong address. But the commission has alleged that Mr Bharti himself signed at least two of the notices to show they had been received.

The Aam Aadmi Party is expected to release a video today in Mr Bharti's defence, after ruling out his resignation over a controversial raid targeting African nationals, including women, in a south Delhi locality.

Some of the Ugandan women have filed a police case alleging that they were molested and beaten up by a mob last week which hurled racist slurs at them, called them prostitutes and forced some of them to submit urine samples for drug tests. They tested negative for drugs in a Delhi hospital. (Read)

The mob was mobilised allegedly by the Law Minister. On camera, he is seen arguing with police officers who said they could not raid a house in his constituency or arrest the women because they did not have warrants.

The Law Minister was summoned to a meeting of the Political Affairs Committee of the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party, its highest decision-making body, on Thursday amid strong demands for his removal from the Delhi cabinet.

At the meeting, the AAP's top leaders, including Chief Minister Kejriwal, backed Mr Bharti, also saying that he should be "lauded for his efforts to address people's grievances." (Read)

The party, though, warned Mr Bharti against the use of "foul language", referring to his recent remarks against senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley and noted lawyer Harish Salve. "We have warned him to control himself in the future," Mr Yadav said. Mr Salve is representing the Ugandan women.

Accused of vigilantism, of gross racism and sexism, and of "stoking prejudices", Somnath Bharti has denied all allegations. He says residents in the area had repeatedly urged the police to take action against African nationals trafficking drugs and sex, but that their pleas had been ignored by apathetic officers.