Delhi govt alleges open threat by L-G, says scrutiny panel ‘illegal’

A day after he turned down the Delhi cabinet’s advice to dissolve the three-member Shunglu committee, the Delhi government on Saturday accused Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung of threatening it

A day after he turned down the Delhi cabinet’s advice to dissolve the three-member Shunglu committee, the Delhi government on Saturday accused Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung of threatening it

Ties between the L-G Nakeeb Jung and Arvind Kejriwal have hit a low over a power struggle. (Hindustan Times)

“It is a matter of deep regret that the Central government’s appointee, Najeeb Jung, is openly threatening to unleash the Central Bureau of investigation (CBI) on a democratically elected government of Delhi. It is a new low in the already blatant politicization and misuse of the premier investigation agency of the country,” said a Delhi government spokesperson.

“Besides, it also unmasks the ulterior motive behind setting up of the three members Shunglu committee, whose formation was anyway in violation of the Constitution of India and the GNCTD Act,” the spokesperson said.

The council of ministers of the Delhi government had on Friday advised the L-G to dissolve the Shunglu committee and return the 400-odd files the panel was scrutinising.

“The council had noted with deep concern as to how the committee’s illegal functioning was crippling various ongoing projects of public welfare. But instead of addressing the constitutional issues of legality and propriety raised by the government of Delhi, Jung regretfully chose to respond in an unconstitutional and partisan manner,” the spokesperson added.

Read: Jung rejects AAP govt’s appeal, extends tenure of review panel by six weeks

A press release issued by the government said Jung’s public statement only highlighted the “deep crisis in our federal democracy”. “Increasingly, the high offices of governors and lieutenant governors are being politically misused to sabotage democratically elected governments. This decline in institutional integrity needs to be arrested at once, if larger national interest and democracy itself is to be preserved,” the spokesperson said.

The committee was constituted on August 30 to review all the decisions taken by the AAP government after coming to power last year and was mandated to furnish its report within six weeks initially.

Defending the committee, the L-G secretariat termed the Delhi cabinet resolution — advising the dissolution of the committee — an attempt to “mislead the public and take attention away from grave misdemeanours that are evident in some of the files”.

The L-G secretariat said the “truth hidden behind the 400-odd files being scrutinized must come out and be brought to public domain” and the AAP government should not be afraid of the truth coming out “if everything, as claimed, is as per rules”.

“Some misdemeanours are of the gravity that already these matters are in the process of being referred to the CBI for investigation,” the statement issued by the L-G office said.