LG: CAG reports cleared, call special sitting of Delhi assembly

Experts said that the LG’s directions are not binding, and the cabinet, led by the chief minister, can choose not to call an assembly session

Lieutenant governor VK Saxena informed the Delhi high court on Monday that all 14 Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports have been approved and forwarded to chief minister Atishi’s office, and the LG urged her to convene a special session of the Delhi legislative assembly to table the reports “immediately”.

Delhi LG VK Saxena. (ANI)

Experts, however, noted that the LG’s directions are not binding, and the cabinet, led by the chief minister, can choose not to call an assembly session.

To be sure, the Delhi government had on December 2 submitted an undertaking before the Delhi high court, affirming that it would call another session of the Delhi legislative assembly before its dissolution in February.

Officials from the LG’s office said that Saxena emphasised the urgency of the matter, stating that the session had not yet been prorogued. “The LG has stressed that the session be convened without any further loss of time to ensure adherence to the constitutional mandate. The session of the Delhi legislative assembly has not been prorogued as yet,” said a senior official from the LG’s office.

The LG’s submission in the court was in a plea filed by seven Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLAs seeking directions to forward the CAG reports to the LG for tabling before the assembly. On Monday, a bench of justice Sanjeev Narula said that the grievance raised by the MLAs stood redressed and closed the plea.

“In light of the above, the grievance raised before the court for directing mandamus to respondent number 2 (finance minister), stands redressed. In view of the above the present proceedings stand closed,” the court said in its order.

The matter in the centre of the issue is a set of 14 CAG reports that cover key issues, including Delhi’s liquor policy, vehicular pollution, public health, and the performance of government departments from 2017-18 to 2020-21. The issue became a flashpoint during the assembly session in early December, where BJP legislators demanded that the reports be tabled.

A group of BJP MLAs then moved court, alleging that chief minister Atishi, also holding the finance portfolio, was withholding them despite repeated requests from the LG.

On Monday, the LG’s secretariat said the LG has given his formal consent for tabling of these reports. The communication signed by the LG reads: “In pursuance of Section 48 of Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991, I, Vinai Kumar Saxena, Lieutenant Governor Delhi recommend placing a copy of report for the year of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India relating to the Government of NCT of Delhi before the Legislative Assembly of NCT of Delhi.”

HT has not seen copy of the communication.

The secretariat in a statement adds: “These reports are the touchstone of transparency in governance. Adherence to the constitutional mandate of placing such reports on the Table of the Legislature from time to time expeditiously is an essential ingredient of a functional democracy to ensure full disclosure and to seek guidance of the apex legislative body for taking course corrections where necessary.”

The LG’s communication underlined that withholding these reports undermines the assembly’s role in scrutinising the executive. “By not laying the CAG reports promptly before the assembly, the government has failed to discharge its constitutional obligation and has deprived the members of legislative assembly from discharging its core duty of exercising legislative control over the executive,” the statement adds.

The Delhi government did not respond to HT’s request for a comment on the matter.