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Delhi HC refuses to order assembly session to table CAG reports, questions AAP govt's ‘delay’
‘The court is not inclined to accept the petition for summoning a special session for laying the reports,’ the judge said.
The Delhi high court on Friday refused to order a special state assembly session to table 14 Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports. The court also flagged the Aam Aadmi Party government's “inordinate delay" in presenting the documents.
Seven Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs had approached the high court seeking directions to Speaker Ram Niwas Goel to convene a special sitting to table the CAG reports before the Delhi assembly elections.
Justice Sachin Datta's bench said it is a mandatory constitutional imperative to table CAG reports. It noted that there had been an “inordinate delay” on the part of the Delhi government in forwarding the CAG reports to Speaker Ram Niwas Goel.
“The court is not inclined to accept the petition for summoning a special session for laying the reports,” the judge said.
AAP vs BJP on CAG reports
The tabling of the reports – which cover key issues such as Delhi’s liquor policy, vehicular pollution, and public health, among others – has become a flashpoint between the AAP and the BJP.
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The BJP is looking to corner the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government over the absence of reports in the run-up to the elections. Assembly polls will be held in Delhi on February 5 and the results will be declared three days later.
The BJP claims that the CAG reports on the Delhi government's excise policy have exposed “intentional lapses” and that the costs to promote government schemes were “significantly higher” than the funds allocated for the actual schemes.
The AAP has defended itself and labelled the claims “fabricated”. It has also called BJP's plea in the high court as "politically motivated".
The Delhi government has argued before the court that tabling the reports within the limited time remaining in the assembly’s tenure was impractical.
“Nothing major is going to happen if reports are not placed within 10-15 days. The urgency is driven by a political hurry, not a necessity,” Senior advocate Rahul Mehra, representing the Delhi government, had told the court in the last hearing.
Also Read | HC slams Delhi govt for not tabling CAG reports
Senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, appearing for the BJP, had accused the Delhi government of delaying the process to avoid scrutiny ahead of the polls. He contended that the reports should be made public to allow voters to make informed decisions.
The BJP MLAs also argued that the government had failed to fulfil its assurance to forward the reports promptly, delaying the process until December 24 last year.
