While noting the “unwarranted delay” of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in submitting the papers, the Delhi High Court on Friday turned down a request for a special session of the state assembly to table 14 Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports.
Seven BJP MLAs had applied to the court requesting it to compel Speaker Ram Niwas Goel to call a special assembly session prior to the next Delhi polls—specifically to submit the reports.
The bench of Justice Sachin Datta stressed that it is a constitutional mandate to produce CAG reports. It also observed the excessive delay of the speaker’s reports going.
The judge said, “The court is not inclined to approve the request for a special session for laying the reports.”
The BJP has expressed worry about the postponement of report submission, which covers matters including Delhi’s liquor policy, vehicular pollution, and public health. Particularly with the February 5 Delhi elections approaching, the issue has become a major bone of discord between AAP and BJP.
Regarding the excise policy and expenditure incurred in promoting government programs, the BJP has slammed the AAP administration for deliberate lapses. The AAP has rejected these allegations as “manufactured” and called the BJP’s court petition “politically motivated.”
In court Delhi government argued that presenting the documents before the assembly’s tenure ends would be unfeasible, since the need was politically motivated, not a necessity. Representing the Delhi government, senior counsel Rahul Mehra argued, “Nothing major is going to happen if reports are not placed within 10-15 days. Political impetus, not a requirement, is driving the urgency.”
Meanwhile, BJP’s Senior Advocate Mahesh Jethmalani slammed the Delhi government for delaying the process to avoid examination before the elections and stressed that the findings should be released to assist voters in making educated decisions. Further delaying the process until December 24 last year, the BJP MLAs also observed that the government had not delivered on its pledge to quickly transfer the reports.