Rakia Imran
A petition has been filed by seven BJP MLAs in the Delhi High Court, seeking an explanation for the delay by the AAP-led government in submitting 14 CAG reports to the Assembly. The petition claims that the Delhi Government has stalled the submission of the CAG reports by around 490 days now.
The petition before the Delhi High Court has been filed by seven BJP MLAs, namely, Vijender Gupta, Mohan Singh Bisht, Om Prakash Sharma, Ajay Kumar Mahawar, Abhay Verma, Anil Bajpai and Jitendra Mahajan through advocates Neeraj and Satya Ranjan Swain. The petition appeals for the CAG reports to be forwarded to the Assembly Speaker and requested for a special assembly sitting to be held, to examine and deliberate on these reports. Respondents to the case include the Delhi Chief Minister, the Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, and the CAG.
During the hearing today, Senior Advocate Mahesh Jethamalani representing the BJP MLAs argued that the petitioners were calling for the execution of a constitutional obligation, stating, “This is the basic feature of parliamentary democracy”, also underlying the fact that the CAG’s duties are given under Articles 149 and Articles 151 of the Constitution.
Clarity on Legislative Assembly procedures was also addressed by Justice Sachin Datta, on matters including what prorogation of an assembly session entails, when the Delhi Assembly was prorogued last, what an assembly session means, and the difference between prorogation and dissolution of the Legislative Assembly, after holding up of the matter by the Delhi Government.
In the lead-up to this, it was alleged by the Delhi LG’s office that the LG had approved the CAG reports and the only task left for the government was to table them before the Assembly.
It was also brought into light that the CAG reports had been lying with the CM’s office for an inordinate amount of time, before it was finally sent to the LG for approval in the month of December. With regard to this, the Delhi Government had provided assurance that the CAG reports would be forwarded to the Speaker, so that it could be tabled before the Assembly within two or three days.
However the Court hearing the arguments, disposed of the plea on December 16,2024, giving a heads up that the petitioner may resort to appropriate legal proceedings in case of any further delays. Hence prompting the BJP MLAs to approach the High Court again for relief.
On December 24, during the first hearing of the new plea, the Delhi government, represented by Senior Advocate Rahul Mehra, notified the Court that CM Atishi had already written to the Legislative Assembly’s Secretary seeking a suitable date to table one CAG report on “Performance Audit Report on Children in Need of Care and Protection”, and gave assurance of submitting rest of the reports soon.
In an affidavit dated January 3, the LG’s office alleged that the AAP government was “not ceasing in their delay tactics”. Countering this, the Secretary of the Legislative Assembly had also filed a reply in which it was stated that the CAG reports are not meant to be made publicly available, rather they are meant for the Assembly to scrutinize and examine the details of the reports. Furthermore, adding that, tabling the reports now won’t serve any purpose, and that it would be more fitting for the Public Account Committee (PAC) formed after the upcoming Delhi elections to examine the reports.
In the affidavit filed on January 7 through Advocate Udit Malik, additional standing counsel for the Delhi Government, it was stated that there has never been a case where the Parliament or State Assemblies called for a special session just to table the CAG’s report.
The matter is set to be heard again on January 16.