Delhi LG returns 47 files as CM signature missing

The files returned by the LG Secretariat include those related to the education department and the waqf board among others

The office of Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena has returned 47 files to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejrwal’s office as they were signed by official staff instead of the CM, according to people aware of the matter, potentially triggering another flashpoint between the two amid ongoing friction over cases of alleged corruption in the national capital.

There was no response from the Delhi government on the LG Secretariat’s move.(HT Archive)

On August 22, Saxena wrote to Kejriwal, saying that as per procedure, the files sent for approval or opinion of the LG should be signed by the chief minister instead of a joint secretary or additional secretary. In his letter, the LG mentioned that Kejriwal’s office has been sending proposals signed by officials with comments that they have been “seen and approved” by the chief minister.

The files returned by the LG Secretariat include those related to the education department and the waqf board among others, an official from Saxena’s office said, asking not to be named.

The move is likely to deepen the strain between the LG and the CM who have had recent disagreements over the issue of jurisdiction over departments, frequent transfer posting of officials and probes launched into multiple cases of alleged corruption in the new excise policy, school classroom construction and procurement of buses.

A Central Bureau of Investigation probe recommended by Saxena into the Delhi government’s excise policy has already intensified the tussle between the Aam Aadmi Party and the LG’s office, with the investigative agency naming deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia as an accused.

“It may be recalled that the LG had been consistently insisting that laid down rules, procedures and due constitutional provisions be followed. He had written to the CM on August 22, 2022 flagging his not signing files that are sent to LG’s secretariat for LG’s consideration and approval. However, even after this letter, the CM and chief minister’s office has continued to send files not signed by the CM,” the senior official quoted above said.

Responding to the development, Sisodia said that the LG Saxena should not act like a headmaster. “This is a very, very routine practice. I was just talking about schools so I will give an example that it is the headmaster’s job to check comma, full stops in copies (of students). He is the LG and should behave like one,” Sisodia said.

There was no response from the Delhi government on the LG Secretariat’s move.

In his letter to Kejriwal on August 22, Saxena wrote to the chief minister flagging violation of the “Manual of Office Procedures”. Saxena said that in recent months, a significant number of proposals had been submitted for LGs approval or opinion under Article 239 (AA)(4) with remarks that the “CM has seen and approved the proposal”. The communication said that it had become a matter of routine and grounds for urgency of such a step were not specified.

The Manual of Office Procedures, 2022, states that only in rare and urgent cases when the minister is on tour or sick and his approval has been taken over the phone can the decision be conveyed by his private secretary in writing, according to Saxena’s letter.

He also asked the CM to introduce the e-office system, prevalent in most government offices now, to enable seamless movement of files. Saxena’s communication said that the practice of submission of files under the signature of officials should be discouraged, adding that on receipt of files at the level of joint or additional secretary, the LG Secretariat will also be forced to communicate the LG’s decisions at the level of officials under him.

Another official in the LG’s office compared the move of sending duly unsigned files to “wielding powers without any accountability or responsibility” and also called it a departure from the past as “between 1993-2013, the files sent to the LG for consideration were duly signed by the respective CMs”. The officials in the LG office said that by not signing the files, Kejriwal’s attempt was to find an alibi for himself in the case of any controversy.

Since he took over in May this year, LG Saxena has been locked in a sustained confrontation with the elected government led by Kejriwal over multiple issues including the former’s move to order a CBI probe into alleged irregularities in the excise policy implementation which led to raids at deputy CM Manish Sisodia residence and triggered a full-blown BJP-AAP political fight.