NEW DELHI: Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena (L-G), on Wednesday, wrote to Delhi Chief Minister Atishi to convene a special session of the Delhi Legislative Assembly on December 19-20 to discuss 14 pending Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports.
The L-G, in his letter, said, “As you are aware, it is the Constitutional obligation of an elected government to lay all such reports before the Legislative Assembly, as part of the framework of accountability of government before legislature envisioned by the framers of the Constitution.
“There has been a conscious and deliberate lapse on the part of the elected government to lay reports over the last two years. I have been consistently writing to you and your predecessor, reminding the criticality of this fundamental obligation. An elected government which won a popular mandate on the plank of transparency has deliberately chosen the path of opacity in disclosure, even before fellow legislators. Fourteen CAG Reports, pertaining to various departments of GNCTD (Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi), are yet to see the light of the day,” he said.
It is indeed sad that a few MLAs were compelled to approach the High Court for enforcement of their own constitutional rights, so flagrantly violated by the elected government, the letter said.
“Normally, any legislature, including Parliament of India convenes at least three sessions in a year, apart from special sessions. In a travesty of legislative practice, Delhi Government has convened only five sessions in five years... You (Atishi), being the Leader of the House, may, in consultation with the Speaker, may convene a Special Sitting of the Assembly for laying these CAG Reports on 19th or 20th December,” the LG’s letter added.
Following a writ petition filed by the Leader of Opposition in the assembly, Vijender Gupta, in the High Court seeking directions of the Court to the government to lay 14 long-pending CAG reports on the Table of the House, the Government sent 12 reports on December 11, just a day before the hearing and two reports on 12th December at 07:50 PM to the LG Secretariat, after the hearing had concluded.