Media ''misreported'' me on ID card issue: LG

New Delhi, Jan 10 (UNI) In the eye of a storm over his proposal for checking ID cards of people living in Delhi from January 15, Delhi Lt Governor Tejender Khanna has said the media ''misreported'' his January 4 statement.

''I felt the media misreported me when instead of saying that production of ID cards was an advisory, they said it was mandatory.

That was not my point nor my intention. I just talked about an intensification of checking in view of the highly sensitive security environment in the National Capital.'' ''I said if you have an ID card it will be of convenience to you and the police. However, it wasn't essential or necessary for a person to be carrying ID cards,'' the Lt Governor told a TV channel last night.

Talking to Devil's Advocate on the CNN IBN, Dr Khanna said, ''What I was talking about was random checks, not compulsory ones.

The kind of intelligence inputs we are getting show that even though on the surface everything appears quiet but there are certain anti- national forces at work and that can result in some serious security breaches and terrorist incidents in the capital.'' ''In that context, I said as we approach Republic Day, we are going to be asking the police to carry out many random checks in public places, the intention being to identify persons of suspicious conduct who may need to be investigated. However, the police would not have regarded non possession of an ID card as something violative of any regulation because no law or regulation today requires a citizen to carry a photo ID.'' Asked about his statement at the January 4 press conference that "adequate action would be taken against those not found in possession of an ID card", the LG said, ''What I meant was that the person would be further questioned by the police so that they are able to satisfy themselves that the he does not pose any kind of security risk to good public order in the city. In England also, one says that so and so has been requested to join for some kind of questioning. It does not mean he is being charged or convicted.'' Stating that ''we are not asking every citizen of Delhi to identify himself'', Dr Khanna said, ''What we had said in terms of random checks was that may be in different parts of the city; in the vicinity of very important public buildings, there could be some kind of a check when people cross the area. Random checks did not mean it could be a universal check at all places of Delhi.'' MORE UNI AR HS KP1345