Prosecution sanctions fresh AAP vs LG tussle

The incident is the latest in a series of flashpoints between the elected state government and the centrally nominated LG. The former has, over the course of these tussles, accused Saxena of overreach and attempting to thwart state government programmes and initiatives.

In a new flashpoint between the Delhi government and the lieutenant governor, officials in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government accused the latter of bypassing the state law department and directly calling for files seeking prosecution sanctions through chief secretary Naresh Kumar.

The LG’s office did not respond to requests for comment on the allegations levelled by the government. (ANI)

These sanctions were granted between November 2022 and January 2023 in seven cases, including those against Aumkareshwar Thakur in the 2021 Sulli Deals case, Shehla Rashid for posting alleged anti-army tweets and former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain in a 2020 Delhi riots case, said a Delhi government official who asked not to be named.

“According to the law in Delhi, for over three decades, the executive powers to issue a valid sanction for prosecution under Section 196 of the CrPC have been solely vested with the elected government. This act of Saxena’s has rendered such sanctions invalid, enabling the accused to get off scot-free,” said an official of the AAP government, who did not wish to be named.

According to Section 196 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, in cases of crimes committed against the state, such as hate speech, hurting religious sentiments, hate crimes, sedition, waging war against the state, promoting enmity, no court shall take cognisance of any such case without the sanction of the central government or of the state government.

Despite repeated attempts, the LG’s office did not respond to requests for comment on the allegations levelled by the government.

HT contacted chief secretary Kumar but he did not comment on the matter.

The incident is the latest in a series of flashpoints between the elected state government and the centrally nominated LG. The former has, over the course of these tussles, accused Saxena of overreach and attempting to thwart state government programmes and initiatives. Saxena has, however, insisted that he is only performing obligations in sync with his constitutional authority.

The Delhi government official said that the state law minister, currently deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, is the competent authority, stressing that his approval is required in all such cases.

“After the minister’s approval, the file will be sent to LG to decide whether he differs from the minister’s decision and whether he would like to refer it to the President,” said the state government official. “However, the matter was directly referred to the law department of Delhi government for a fresh opinion by the chief secretary on December 15 last year,” added the AAP.