Wed, Feb 19th, 2014

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/After-Transparency-International-rebuff-embarrassed-AAP-regrets-corruption-error/articleshow/30626180.cms

Embarrassed by the faux pas which saw AAP's national convenor Arvind Kejriwal and another leader Shazia Ilmi wrongly quoting a report from Transparency International to claim that corruption has declined in Delhi, the party on Tuesday issued a clarification stating it was "misinformed" about the survey.

"Aam Admi party leader Shazia Ilmi learnt about a survey that showed a dramatic fall in the levels of corruption in Delhi after Aam Aadmi Party government came to power.

Since the information came from someone who was an employee of Transparency International, she (Ilmi) assumed that it was a Transparency International survey," a statement by the party said.

Taking support of Ilmi's statement to the newspaper, Kerjiwal, in his speech at the CII yesterday, had said that corruption cases have fallen drastically in Delhi after the party came to power.

"Since then we have come to know that the said survey had no connection with Transparency International and the source of Shazia Ilmi's information had quit Transparency International by then. We regret this error," the statement added.

Ilmi, however, said that an independent agency had conducted a survey which states that corruption has gone down in Delhi after AAPformed the government.

"There is indeed a study done by an independent agency asserting that Delhi was cleaner and less corrupt in AKs 49 days..It will be out soon," she tweeted.

The Transparency International too rebuffed Ilmi's claim of conducting such survey.

"The information shared by Ms Shazia Ilmi is factually incorrect. We have not undertaken any study on corruption in Delhi and so there is no question of any such published or unpublished report," Ashutosh Kumar Mishra, Executive Director Transparency International India, said in a press statement.