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Lieutenant Governor (L-G) VK Saxena on Friday wrote to Chief Minister Atishi over Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports pending tabling in the Delhi Assembly, and called it unfortunate. In his letter addressed to the CM, the L-G said: “I am writing to draw your urgent attention to the issue of non-laying of CAG reports on the floor of the Legislative Assembly, which is a crucial part of the Constitutional framework of accountability of the Government in power.” In an apparent attack on the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, he said: “It pains me for having to write this communication to a CM heading a government which won a popular electoral mandate on the plank of transparency and accountability in governance.
It is ironic that the same government is shying away from transparently giving an account of its performance and expenditure before the august Assembly of which it is an integral part.” Advertisement Saxena pointed out that Article 151 of the Constitution of India, read with Section 48 of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991 and Regulation 210 of the Regulations on Audit and Accounts, 2007 made under the CAG Act mandates that the LG shall cause to be laid these audit reports on the table of the Legislative Assembly. He said it is unfortunate that the government has consciously chosen not to adhere to this Constitutional norm, thereby avoiding disclosure and public scrutiny of its performance.
The L-G said he had raised this issue with her predecessor, Arvind Kejriwal on several occasions and flagged the gross Constitutional “impropriety” of the government in this regard. The office of CAG has sent several reminders to my office requesting urgent action in this regard “I had underscored the importance of this issue to the then CM on 22nd February and also to the Speaker also on 9th August. Apart from this, the LG Secretariat has sent several communications to the Chief Secretary in this regard.
Even as the Assembly reconvenes today- presumably for the last time before the elections, the agenda and list of businesses so far does not reflect the laying/tabling of CAG Reports pertaining to government departments,” he said. Calling CM Atishi an accomplished public leader with a stellar record of academic qualifications, Saxena said that she shall heed to his counsel and uphold public trust during the ongoing session of the Assembly, which kicked off on Friday. Notably on Thursday, a delegation of Delhi BJP MLAs led by Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Vijender Gupta met the L-G and urged him to ensure that the AAP government presents CAG reports in the Assembly Session.
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