Have forwarded CAG reports to LG, Delhi govt’s counsel tells high court

Last week the CAG said that eight reports pertaining to Delhi are pending with the city government for laying before the Legislative Assembly.

The Delhi government on Thursday informed the Delhi high court that it has already forwarded the reports prepared by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to the lieutenant governor (LG) VK Saxena for tabling before the Delhi Legislative Assembly.

Have forwarded CAG reports to LG, Delhi govt’s counsel tells high court

The information comes after the CAG last week said that eight reports pertaining to Delhi are pending with the city government for laying before the Legislative Assembly.

Sudhir Nandrajog, representing the Delhi government, said: “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 received 10 files from chief minister Atishi’s office for the purpose of laying down before the assembly, but the files were not presented in the session.

Considering the contentions, justice Sanjeev Narula asked both the counsels – those representing the Delhi government and the LG – to file an affidavit indicating the developments that have transpired. Further, the justice has fixed December 16 as the next date of hearing for considering petitions filed by seven Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs, including Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta, seeking directions to forward 12 reports prepared by CAG.

Throughout the winter session of Delhi assembly, the BJP MLAs put pressure on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to table the reports of the CAG in the assembly. On the first day, leader of opposition Vijender Gupta and other BJP MLAs staged a walkout when their demands such as the tabling of the CAG reports, the expenditure on the renovation of the residence of the then CM Arvind Kejriwal, discussion on pollution were not entertained in the House. Later, the BJP MLAs protested in the assembly premises demanding the tabling of the CAG reports.

BJP MLAs Mohan Singh Bisht, Om Prakash Sharma, Ajay Kumar Mahawar, Abhay Verma, Anil Kumar Bajpai, and Jitendra Mahajan, argued that the CAG reports between 2017-18 to 2020-21 contained “sensitive” information and were being “withheld” by chief minister Atishi, who also holds the finance portfolio. Their petition alleged that despite repeated requests from the LG, the reports had not been forwarded for tabling before the assembly.

The “deliberate suppression” of these reports, the plea contended, violated democratic principles, hindered proper scrutiny of government actions and expenditures, and raised concerns over financial transparency and accountability.

The MLAs were represented by senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani.

CAG, in November, responded that eight reports pertaining to Delhi were pending with the city government for presentation before the assembly, as required under the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) Act. They added that they had written to the principal secretary (finance) in the past, urging compliance with the legal requirement to table the audit reports in the assembly.

Later, Saxena in an affidavit filed on December 6, stated that there is a clear statutory mandate for the CAG reports to be placed before the Assembly, however he was being prevented from observing and following such mandate. the statement by LG added that such deliberate and persistent lapse was indicative of gross dereliction of duties and constitutional obligations.

Meanwhile, the Delhi government and its finance ministry had filed an affidavit on Wednesday, stating that the finance department was pursuing finance minister’s office to expedite the laying of the reports in the assembly and had also sent reminders to the minister’s office to place the Finance Accounts and Appropriation Accounts of Delhi government along with various CAG reports.