LG urges speaker to present all CAG reports sent to Delhi govt in the assembly

In the letter dated August 9, the LG said that the AAP government is sitting over 11 CAG reports and deliberately avoiding presenting them in the assembly

Lieutenant governor (LG) VK Saxena has written to the Delhi assembly speaker, Ram Niwas Goel, urging him to ensure that all Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports on Delhi that are yet to be tabled in the assembly be presented during the next session, officials from the LG office said on Friday.

Delhi lieutenant governor (LG) VK Saxena. (PTI)

In the letter dated August 9, the LG said that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi is sitting over 11 CAG reports and deliberately avoiding presenting them in the assembly. The LG added that the earliest of these reports — on the state finances audit — was received by the Delhi government in June 2022.

“The CAG reports are vital to assess the financial and administrative health in a democratic setup. Adherence to the constitutional mandate of placing such reports on the table of the legislature from time to time without any delay is an essential ingredient of a functional democracy so that future course corrections are made. However, the elected government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, by not laying the CAG reports in the Delhi legislative assembly, is avoiding scrutiny by the legislative assembly and the public at large, undermining the very basis of democratic accountability. Such a lapse by the elected government of Delhi in the matter of laying pending CAG reports before the Delhi legislative assembly amounts to gross dereliction of their constitutional obligations,” the letter said.

The reports mentioned in a list attached with the letter pertain to state finances, pollution mitigation, regulation and supply of liquor, appropriation accounts, regarding PSUs and social and general sectors, and a performance audit report on children in need of care and protection, among others, officials said.

The CAG report on “Performance Audit on Regulation and Supply of Liquor in Delhi” for 2017-18 to 2021-22 was sent to the Delhi government in March 2024 and is pending with the finance minister since April, officials added.

“This CAG report is critical in the wake of the AAP government’s controversial and failed excise policy, which was later scrapped following charges of rampant corruption. On February 22, the LG had also written to chief minister Arvind Kejriwal regarding the pendency of these CAG reports and requested him to advise the finance minister to expeditiously lay them before the assembly,” said an official from the LG secretariat.

The letter also said that it is a constitutional mandate to table the CAG reports on the state’s finances and performance of various sectors related to governance, according to Article 151 of the Constitution read with Section 48 of the Government of NCT of Delhi Act, 1991 and Regulation 210 of the Regulations on Audit and Accounts, 2007.

Officials added that multiple CAG reports, including those on the performance of the Delhi Jal Board and the private power discoms in Delhi, were deliberately kept pending by the AAP government for several years, prompting the LG to flag the delays.

The AAP and the speaker did not respond to requests for comment.

Meanwhile, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Devender Yadav said that if a discussion is held on the 11 CAG reports, it will expose the corruption and misappropriation of funds by the Arvind Kejriwal government. “Delhi ministers who have been claiming that the chief minister, Manish Sisodia and others had not committed any corruption will now be forced to tell the truth if the CAG report on the performance audit on regulation and supply of liquor in Delhi is tabled,” said Yadav.