House after his arrest in fake degree case, Jitender Singh on Tuesday stepped down as law minister of Delhi, sending his resignation to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

“Jitender Singh Tomar put in his papers a while back. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has accepted the resignation,” Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said.

“We shall forward Tomar’s resignation letter to Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung tomorrow (Wednesday) morning,” he added.

In his resignation letter, Tomar said he did not want to affect the image of the Aam Aadmi Party or its Delhi government.

Earlier, the arrest of Tomar on charges of fraud and cheating further escalated tensions between the central and state governments, with Sisodia accusing Delhi Police of carrying out a “political vendetta”.

The face-off between the two governments intensified through the day with another public showdown brewing over transfers involving the Anti-Corruption Branch and the Delhi Home Secretary.

While remanding Tomar to four days in police custody, a Delhi court said the police action “seemed like a farce exercise” after documents revealed that the arrest notice was issued after the minister was detained.

The police arrested Tomar, a first-time MLA from Trinagar, at 11 am following an investigation into a complaint by the Bar Council of Delhi that he had obtained a fake law degree from the Institute of Legal Studies College in Munger, Bihar.

The arrest comes at a time when Lt Governor Najeeb Jung and the Delhi government have locked horns over administrative control of the national capital.

The Delhi government was quick to condemn Tomar’s arrest. “In the last three months, the AAP government in Delhi has shaken the roots of corruption. Dictatorial ways are being used to create an emergency-like situation in Delhi,” Sisodia said.