NEW DELHI: The Delhi government will soon start the process of creating a Rs 50-crore welfare fund for lawyers, law minister Kailash Gahlot said on Wednesday.
According to a statement issued by him,’Gahlot said that Delhi law secretary Sanjay Aggarwal issued a notification on Tuesday regarding Delhi Advocates’ Welfare Fund (Amendment) Rules, 2019, without insisting on approval by the lieutenant governor, Gahlot said in a statement.
The Aam Aadmi Party government has allocated Rs 50 crore in the annual budget of Delhi for the financial year 2019-20 for the welfare of lawyers
Gahlot alleged in the statement that the law secretary had been reluctant to follow his direction regarding implementation of the fund, which had been “delayed due to reasons beyond our control.”
He said the Supreme Court, in a judgement dated July 4, 2018, had said that executive powers on all subjects barring land, police and public order shall vest with the council of ministers, which shall take decisions, send a copy of the decision to the L-G and implement the decision.
The previous law secretary, Sanjay Garg, had opined that no file need be sent to the L-G on any subject barring the three reserved subjects, and decisions only needed to be communicated to the L-G. But Garg was transferred out of the Delhi government within 54 days of his posting, the minister said.
The present law secretary overturned the opinion of his predecessor, saying that all files should be sent to the L-G and until he approve them, the ministers’ decisions could not be implemented, Gahlot said.
But on Tuesday, the law secretary had issued a notification on the fund without insisting on L-G’s approval, the minister said.