THE JHARKHAND STORY DESK
New Delhi, Jan 13: The Delhi government led by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal faces scrutiny following the High Court’s remark on the non-presentation of 14 reports by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) in the Legislative Assembly.
The court has raised concerns over the government’s integrity. This comment comes at a time when two CAG reports have been leaked to the media, with the Delhi Assembly elections fast approaching.
According to the report, crores of rupees were improperly spent on the Chief Minister’s residence (Sheesh Mahal) and that the liquor policy caused a loss of more than ₹2,000 crore to the state exchequer.
Report should have been sent to Speaker for Assembly discussion: HC
Justice Sachin Datta’s bench has raised questions about the Delhi government’s handling of the CAG report. The High Court criticized the AAP government for delaying the consideration of the report, stating that the way the government has backed away from the issue raises doubts about its integrity.
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The court further stated that the report should have been sent to the Speaker immediately to initiate a discussion in the Assembly. The court stated that the Delhi government should have shown promptness in sending the reports to the Speaker.
Delhi Govt cites imminent elections over delay in CAG reports presentation
However, in response, the Delhi government argued that with the elections approaching, it was not feasible to call a session of the Assembly.
According to reports, during the previous hearing, the Delhi Assembly Secretariat informed the court that presenting the CAG reports in the Assembly would serve no purpose as the tenure is ending in February.
The Delhi High Court had sought responses from the Delhi government, the Speaker, and other concerned parties. In response, the Delhi government stated that all 14 reports had been sent to the Speaker.
Notably, BJP MLAs had approached the High Court, demanding the presentation of the CAG reports in the Assembly. The BJP has accused the government of having kept more than a dozen CAG reports pending in the Assembly for years.
