Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Monday wrote to Delhi chief minister Atishi and demanded that a special assembly session be conducted in lieu of tabling all 14 CAG reports after the Opposition demanded the same.
In a letter to the CM, LG emphasized the urgency of the matter and demanded the session be conducted ‘immediately’.
However, experts claim that LG’s directions are not binding and the cabinet led by the chief minister Atishi can choose not to call an assembly session.
Meanwhile, Opposition parties including Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress cornered the AAP government over the issue.
Delhi BJP president Vijender Sachdeva attacked Arvind Kejriwal and said that who began his political career by demanding the public release of CAG reports, has now been avoiding the presentation of these reports for over two years.
“It is ironic that Arvind Kejriwal, who began his political career in 2011-12 by demanding the public release of CAG reports and probing private companies in power discoms during the Congress government, has now been avoiding the presentation publication of CAG reports for over two years. The same Kejriwal government now appears actively defending private partners of the power discoms,” he said.
He pointed out that between 2017-18 and 2021-22, the CAG presented 14 key reports on irregularities under the Kejriwal government regarding excise duty on liquor, pollution, and other financial issues, yet the Kejriwal government has suppressed them to date.
“It is important to note that the suppression of these reports implicates not only the Kejriwal cabinet but also Atishi Marlena and Manish Sisodia, who were key figures as Finance Ministers in his government. Just as Arvind Kejriwal previously suppressed the reports, Atishi is doing the same now,” he added.
Meanwhile, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Devender Yadav lauded the LG’s directions and said that ‘Khattar imandar’ Kejriwal should comply with the LG’s latest direction to table the 14 pending CAG reports in the House, which will expose his honesty claim.
“khattar imandar Kejriwal and Atishi were afraid to discuss the CAG reports in the Assembly, as it will bare corruption and misappropriation of tax payers’ money in the many illegal deals done by Kejriwal, including the liquor scam, hence the CM Atishi was trying to hide the CAG reports from public view,” Yadav said.
Earlier, the BJP MLAs including Mohan Singh Bisht, Om Prakash Sharma, Ajay Kumar Mahawar, Abhay Verma, Anil Kumar Bajpai, Vijender Gupta, and Jitendra Mahajan filed a petition before the high court seeking a special assembly session.
The delegation argued that the CAG reports for 2017-18 to 2020-21 contained sensitive information and were allegedly being withheld by the Delhi government. The petition had alleged that despite repeated requests from the LG, the reports had not been forwarded for tabling before the assembly.
