The political battle over Delhi Assembly's so-called 'Phansi Ghar' (gallows chamber) has intensified, with the Committee of Privileges summoning former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, former Speaker Ram Niwas Goel and former Deputy Speaker Rakhi Birla for questioning.
The committee, headed by BJP MLA Pradyumn Singh Rajput, is set to meet on November 13 to examine the authenticity of the structure that was inaugurated by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in 2022. The current BJP government has termed the chamber a "fabricated site", accusing the previous AAP regime of distorting history and misusing public funds.
BJP Says "Distortion of History"
The controversy erupted after the new government ordered the 'Phansi Ghar' to be dismantled, saying it was never a gallows chamber but merely a service staircase used during the British era to deliver food to officers.
During the Assembly session in September, Speaker Vijender Gupta claimed the previous AAP government spent ₹1 crore to renovate the spot to look like a prison, installing murals of freedom fighters, symbolic iron bars and even a pair of nooses.
"It's a gross distortion of history, an insult to our martyrs, and a betrayal of public trust," Chief Minister Rekha Gupta had said, announcing an inquiry and directing officials to file an FIR over the alleged misuse of funds.
"Political Weapon to Distract From Failures": AAP
The AAP, however, slammed the move, accusing the BJP government of politicising a historical debate.
"The BJP has turned the privilege committee into a political weapon to distract from its failures," the party said in a statement.
"Elections are long over, it's time for the BJP to govern, not play politics," it added.
AAP leaders alleged that the privilege committee's summons were legally unsustainable, saying that the Supreme Court has previously ruled a successor Assembly cannot act on matters of a previous term.
The tunnel and the tale of the 'gallows room'
The controversy dates back to 2016, when a tunnel was discovered beneath the Assembly building, a British-era structure built in 1912 when the imperial capital shifted from Calcutta to Delhi.
In 2021, then Speaker Goel announced that a "hanging house" was discovered on the premises, with its entrance just below the Assembly hall floor. The AAP government later renovated and inaugurated the site as a 'Phansi Ghar', presenting it as part of India's colonial past.
Located next to the main hall, the chamber featured displays of British-era shackles, a supposed original noose, and artefacts said to belong to freedom fighters. The inauguration, led by Kejriwal, was held alongside a memorial dedicated to Covid warriors.
Defending the project, AAP MLA Sanjeev Jha earlier insisted that the site had historical significance.
"Historians have differing views on such places. The 1912 building map shows this as the only double-storey structure consistent with a hanging chamber," he said, warning against what he called an attempt to "whitewash British tyranny."
Jha also urged the government to involve the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct a scientific examination of the site's materials.
