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The Delhi Lieutenant Governor, Vinai Kumar Saxena pulled up Chief Minister Atishi for a "conscious and deliberate lapse" of the Delhi government to present audit reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) before the Delhi Assembly for the last two years.
He asked the Delhi Chief Minister to consider convening a special Assembly session to lay down the reports from December 19 to 20, as the government's tenure is set to expire in February 2025. "There has been a conscious and deliberate lapse on the part of the elected government to lay reports over the last two years," read the LG's letter to the Chief Minister. In a letter sent on Tuesday, the LG mentioned how there has been multiple written communication to the current chief minister and former CM Kejriwal to fulfil this "fundamental obligation" of the government. "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 farmers of the Constitution," read the letter by LG Saxena. The LG mentioned that around fourteen CAG reports, pertaining to various department under the government are "yet to see the light of day." He further expressed distress about MLAs "compelled" to approach Delhi High Court for the "enforcement of their constitutional right." "This has perhaps been an irredeemable blow the majesty of legislature, which represents the voice of the people. It was only after a judicial notice that you chose to place these reports before me for approval as per the provisions under Section 48 of the GNCD Act, 1991, that too on the eve of the hearing of the petition by HC," LG's letter read. LG highlighted the order of December 16 regarding the matter of Vijender Gupta and others vs GNCTD and others. He further criticised the CM for having one session of the assembly in a year, citing that normally legislatures have three sessions in a year. "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," the letter read. Calling for the government to have a special assembly session, the LG wrote, "Ordinarily I would not have indicated the timeframe for calling a special sitting at such short notice. However, this is an extraordinary situation, given that the term of the current assembly and the elected government is set to expire in February 2025. I am sure that as leader of the House, you would step in to maintain the sanctity of legislative accountability." (ANI)
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