HC slams Delhi govt for not tabling CAG reports
Delhi High Court criticized the government for delaying 14 CAG reports, raising doubts about its intentions ahead of upcoming elections.
The Delhi high court on Monday pulled up the Delhi government for “dragging its feet” on placing 14 Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports before the speaker of the assembly, noting an “unfortunate” delay to avoid summoning a House session, as it weighed in on an issue that has become a recurrent flashpoint between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the state elections.

However, the court refrained from directing assembly speaker Ram Niwas Goel to convene a special sitting for tabling the reports, including one on the contentious 2021-22 Delhi excise policy, noting that the tenure of the current House ends next month. The case will now be heard on January 16.
Dealing with a petition filed by seven BJP MLAs, including leader of opposition Vijender Gupta, seeking directions to the government to forward the reports to the speaker in a timebound manner, a single-judge bench of justice Sachin Dutta said the delay “raised doubts” about the government’s “bona fides”.
“The way you dragged your feet raises doubts about your bona fides. You should have promptly forwarded the reports to the Speaker and had a discussion in the House. The timeline is stark. See the way you have been dragging your feet is something that is unfortunate,” the bench told the Delhi government counsel.
“You’ve dragged your feet to avoid having a session. See the number of dates you held onto the report, and the time taken to send them to the LG (lieutenant governor) and then forward it to the speaker. The timeline really is stark,” said the judge.
The Delhi government’s counsels called the petition “politically motivated”.
In a statement, the AAP said the reports have been “sent to the Delhi legislative assembly speaker for tabling in the next session”.
The 14 reports, based on audits between 2017-18 and 2021-22, concern critical issues, including the liquor policy, renovation of the chief minister’s bungalow, vehicular pollution, public health, and the performance of government departments.
The BJP has sought to corner the AAP over the absence of the reports in the run-up to the elections, accusing the state’s ruling party of withholding information for fear it could dent its performance in the polls.
The AAP has defended itself and labelled the claims “fabricated”.
Delhi’s principal opposition party has also, in recent weeks, cited two purported CAG reports – one surrounding the renovation of 6 Flag Staff Road, the bungalow previously occupied by former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, and another that reports a ₹2,026 crore loss to the state exchequer due to flaws in the 2021-22 excise policy – in a bid to target the AAP and accusing it of financial mismanagement.
To be sure, reports by the CAG are disclosed once tabled before the respective state assembly or in Parliament, and the AAP has raised questions over the authenticity of the reports the BJP has cited.
The high court’s rebuke to the Delhi government came after it went through an affidavit filed by the assembly secretariat on January 7, which said that summoning a special session to table the reports would serve “no useful purpose” since the House tenure ends in February.
The secretariat also said CAG reports were “not urgent” since it compiled findings over a period of time, unlike “emergency reports” that require immediate attention.
Earlier, the LG’s office filed an affidavit on January 3 accusing the AAP government and the chief minister of employing “delaying tactics”, alleging that the reports were belatedly forwarded only after the seven BJP MLAs filed a second petition in the HC.
A retired assembly secretariat official said CAG carries out audits on various department and schemes every year. Once reactions from the concerned department and the finance department are incorporated, a final report is sent to the state government.
“The government sends it to the lieutenant governor for approval, after which it is sent to the speaker. Laying them in the assembly is part of government business, which is carried out by the leader of the House in consultation with the speaker. They are then sent to the public accounts committee (PAC) for examination,” said the official.
In the petition, the BJP MLAs cited the AAP government’s assurance, made in court on December 16 last year, when it agreed to forward the CAG reports to Goel “within two to three days”.
On December 24, the Delhi government informed the high court that chief minister Atishi’s office had forwarded the 14 CAG reports to the secretary of the legislative assembly. The court then said the MLAs’ grievance related to forwarding the reports “stood redressed”, even as it sought responses from the LG and speaker regarding a special session of the House.
The court on Monday said it was disinclined to call a special session, with the city set to vote on February 5.
“We are at the stage of elections around the corner. How can there be a special session now? Even assuming you (BJP legislators) are right, there are many issues which arise for consideration. The dissolution of assembly is around the corner and it (CAG reports) will be done, when it (assembly) is reconvened,” justice Datta told senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, representing the BJP legislators.
The remarks came in the wake of the submissions made by Jethmalani that a special session could still be called to place the CAG reports regardless of the elections being announced. He submitted that the assembly was still in session and had not been prorogued by the LG, till date.
However, the Delhi government, represented by senior advocates Sudhir Nandrajog and Rahul Mehra, opposed the petition, saying it was “political in nature” and alleging that the LG’s office made the reports public and shared them with newspapers.
Responding to the court’s remarks, the AAP in a statement said, “The CAG reports have been sent to the Delhi legislative assembly speaker for tabling in the next session of the Assembly. Beyond this, we have no role.” It added: “The BJP is fabricating fake CAG reports in its headquarters, concocting baseless stories to mislead the public.”
Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva hit back, saying that the government had “lost moral authority to rule” after the court’s remarks.
