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Another reshuffle in Delhi cabinet: Atishi gets law dept
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal carried out a minor swapping of portfolios in his cabinet, with minister Atishi given charge of the law department, officials said on Friday
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal carried out a minor swapping of portfolios in his cabinet, with minister Atishi given charge of the law department, officials said on Friday. Before this, Kailash Gehlot was Delhi’s law minister, and he now gets charge of the women & child development portfolio, which was earlier with Atishi.
Kejriwal sent the recommendation to lieutenant governor (LG) VK Saxena, who approved the change in portfolio allocation, the officials said.
“In exercise of powers conferred under Rule 3 of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Allocation of Business) Rules 1993, the Lieutenant Governor, in consultation with the Chief Minister, is pleased to allocate portfolio of ‘Women and Child Development’ to Kailash Gahlot, Minister, in addition to the portfolios he is presently holding and the portfolio of ‘Law, Justice and Legislative Affairs’ is allocated to Ms. Atishi Marlena, Minister, in addition to the portfolios she is presently holding,” a notification issued by general administration department of the Delhi government stated on Friday evening.
Atishi, who was sworn in as minister in March alongside Saurabh Bharadwaj after Sisodia and former health minister Satyendar Jain tendered their resignations following their arrests in separate cases, has the maximum number portfolios among the Delhi ministers at 14. These include important department such as finance, PWD, water, education, and law, among others.
She was elected as a legislator for the first time in 2020 and represents the Kalkaji assembly constituency in south Delhi.
Atishi is the only woman minister in the seven-member Kejriwal cabinet, which includes Gehlot, Bharadwaj, Gopal Rai, Imran Hussain, and Raaj Kumar Anand.
The development comes a day after the LG recalled 18 files related to courts and justice delivery due to the alleged inordinate delay in their clearance, and asked for them to be submitted to him within three days.
To be sure, Delhi government officials did not share the reasons behind the portfolio change and there was no confirmation that the decision to linked ti the LG’s move..
“The LG while recalling the files has expressed his serious view of the pendency of such large number of important proposals relating to court and judicial administration and pointed out that delays by the minister (law), was creating barriers in administration of justice in the Capital of the country,” said an official from LG secretariat.
The official said these 18 files include issues like proposals for the construction of the district court complex at Rohini, lawyers’ chamber at Rouse Avenue court, and a file on enhancement of allowances to retired chief justices and judges of the Delhi high court, among others.
In response, the government had said that it carries out judicial infrastructure work on priority. “The AAP government has made the maximum investment on judicial infrastructure, nearly tripling the budget. The world-class court complexes were all created during the Arvind Kejriwal government’s rule itself at Karkardooma, Tis Hazari, Rouse Avenue as well as the high court premises,” a spokesperson had said.
