NEW DELHI: Delhi high court on Monday criticised AAP government for not placing key CAG reports, including one on the capital’s scrapped liquor policy, before the assembly for discussion, and called this “unfortunate.”
Saying that the delay “raises doubts on your bona fides,” Justice Sachin Datta told the government, “You should have promptly forwarded the reports to Speaker. You have dragged your feet to avoid having a discussion. See the number of dates you held onto the report, and the time taken to send them to LG and then forwarding it to Speaker.”However, HC didn’t pass an interim direction. It said calling an assembly session was the Speaker’s “prerogative”. It told the petitioners-a group of BJP MLAs-whether a court order could be issued, especially with polls just days away.
Govt in HC: Petitioners using court as instrument to play political games
Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta and other BJP MLAs have moved court seeking a direction to Delhi Speaker to call a sitting of the assembly for the purpose of tabling the CAG reports.
The senior lawyer appearing for govt objected to the “political” nature of the petition and alleged the LG office made the reports public and shared it with newspapers. In the post-lunch session, the govt’s counsel highlighted that BJP leaders had already held a press conference citing some of the oral remarks made in the morning proceedings and accused the petitioners of using the court as an “instrument to play political games.”
But Justice Datta made it clear the court couldn’t “react” to the allegation as it is not concerned with politics and posted the matter for Jan 16. During the hearing, the senior lawyer representing the petitioners, said the court can direct the Speaker to convene a sitting of the assembly for tabling the reports as delay in placing these reports for discussion is itself a “substantive illegality” and a violation of the constitutional mandate – an issue warranting judicial intervention.
“Assembly was adjourned sine die on Dec 4 (2024) by the Speaker. But that does not cause the death of the session. There was no prorogation,” argued the petitioners’ counsel. Last week, the assembly secretariat informed the court that no useful purpose would be served in tabling the CAG reports as its tenure ends next month. It added that no judicial order could be passed to the Speaker in matters of internal functioning of the legislative assembly, submitting that CAG reports can be examined by the successor PAC of the legislature, which would be elected by the next assembly post-Delhi elections. On his part, the LG backed the powers of the court to direct the Speaker to immediately ensure the tabling of the reports relating to Finance, Pollution, Liquor, and Administration subjects before the house.
