The Delhi authorities on Thursday knowledgeable the Delhi excessive court docket that it has already forwarded the studies ready by the Comptroller and Auditor Normal (CAG) to the lieutenant governor (LG) VK Saxena for tabling earlier than the Delhi Legislative Meeting.
Have forwarded CAG studies to LG, Delhi govt’s counsel tells excessive court docket
The data comes after the CAG final week mentioned that eight studies pertaining to Delhi are pending with the town authorities for laying earlier than the Legislative Meeting.
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Sudhir Nandrajog, representing the Delhi authorities, mentioned: “I have informal instructions that respondent number 2 (Delhi government’s finance ministry) has already sent the reports to respondent 4 (LG Saxena).”
Advocate Bani Dixit, representing the LG, submitted that Saxena had obtained 10 recordsdata from chief minister Atishi’s workplace for the aim of laying down earlier than the meeting, however the recordsdata weren’t introduced within the session.
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Contemplating the contentions, justice Sanjeev Narula requested each the counsels – these representing the Delhi authorities and the LG – to file an affidavit indicating the developments which have transpired. Additional, the justice has fastened December 16 as the subsequent date of listening to for contemplating petitions filed by seven Bharatiya Janata Get together (BJP) MLAs, together with Chief of Opposition Vijender Gupta, in search of instructions to ahead 12 studies ready by CAG.
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All through the winter session of Delhi meeting, the BJP MLAs put strain on the Aam Aadmi Get together (AAP) to desk the studies of the CAG within the meeting. On the primary day, chief of opposition Vijender Gupta and different BJP MLAs staged a walkout when their calls for such because the tabling of the CAG studies, the expenditure on the renovation of the residence of the then CM Arvind Kejriwal, dialogue on air pollution weren’t entertained within the Home. Later, the BJP MLAs protested within the meeting premises demanding the tabling of the CAG studies.
BJP MLAs Mohan Singh Bisht, Om Prakash Sharma, Ajay Kumar Mahawar, Abhay Verma, Anil Kumar Bajpai, and Jitendra Mahajan, argued that the CAG studies between 2017-18 to 2020-21 contained “sensitive” data and had been being “withheld” by chief minister Atishi, who additionally holds the finance portfolio. Their petition alleged that regardless of repeated requests from the LG, the studies had not been forwarded for tabling earlier than the meeting.
The “deliberate suppression” of those studies, the plea contended, violated democratic ideas, hindered correct scrutiny of presidency actions and expenditures, and raised issues over monetary transparency and accountability.
The MLAs had been represented by senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani.
CAG, in November, responded that eight studies pertaining to Delhi had been pending with the town authorities for presentation earlier than the meeting, as required beneath the Authorities of Nationwide Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) Act. They added that that they had written to the principal secretary (finance) previously, urging compliance with the authorized requirement to desk the audit studies within the meeting.
Later, Saxena in an affidavit filed on December 6, said that there’s a clear statutory mandate for the CAG studies to be positioned earlier than the Meeting, nevertheless he was being prevented from observing and following such mandate. the assertion by LG added that such deliberate and chronic lapse was indicative of gross dereliction of duties and constitutional obligations.
In the meantime, the Delhi authorities and its finance ministry had filed an affidavit on Wednesday, stating that the finance division was pursuing finance minister’s workplace to expedite the laying of the studies within the meeting and had additionally despatched reminders to the minister’s workplace to put the Finance Accounts and Appropriation Accounts of Delhi authorities together with numerous CAG studies.