HC slams Delhi govt for not tabling CAG reports

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.

- Shruti Kakkar

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 singlejudge 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.