“The way you have dragged your feet raises doubts about your bona fides,” the Delhi High Court said Monday, scolding the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Delhi government for improperly handling the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report. The administration “dragged its feet” in order to stop the assembly session from happening, according to a one-judge panel headed by Justice Sachin Datta.
“The way you have dragged your feet raises doubts about your bona fides. You should have promptly forwarded the reports to the Speaker and initiated a discussion in the House. The timeline is clear, you have dragged your feet to prevent the session from happening,” the court said. The Delhi government responded by asking how sessions could be held in light of the upcoming elections.
The Delhi Assembly Secretariat informed the court during the most recent hearing that since the assembly’s term expires in February, there would be no benefit to tabling the CAG reports on city management in the house. Seven BJP MLAs petitioned for the reports to be tabulated in the legislature, and this was their response. The Delhi High Court previously requested that the Speaker, the Delhi administration, and other relevant parties reply to a petition filed by BJP MLAs for a special session to deliver 14 CAG reports.
The Delhi administration informed the court that the Speaker has received all 14 reports. The BJP MLAs’ attorney, Vijender Gupta, contended that he was entitled to hear and discuss the findings because he was a member of the House. He urged the court to direct the Speaker to call a special session. The court stated that both sides would need to be heard before a decision could be made, hence it was unable to issue an order to the Speaker right once.
The Delhi government opposed the petition, calling it politically motivated, and said it planned to file a counter-affidavit. Gupta’s lawyer argued that the issue wasn’t political but about ensuring government accountability and should be resolved before the election announcements.
