Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena has written to Chief Minister Atishi to convene a special session of the Delhi Assembly to table CAG reports.

In his letter addressed to the CM, Saxena on Tuesday said, “I am writing to draw your urgent attention to an issue of significant public importance. I am sure that as elected Chief Minister of Delhi, you are conscious of the significance of statutory audit on the functioning of various departments undertaken by the CAG.”

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He noted that it is the Constitutional obligation of an elected government to lay CAG such reports before the Assembly, as part of the framework of accountability of government before the legislature envisioned by the framers of the Constitution.

Asserting that there has been a conscious and deliberate lapse on part of the elected government to lay these reports over the last two years, the LG said, “I have been consistently writing to you and your predecessor, reminding the criticality of this fundamental obligation.”

“It pains me that in the 75th year of the adoption of the Constitution by the Constituent Assembly, 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, are yet to see the light of the day,” he said.

Informing that a few MLAs were compelled to approach Delhi High Court for enforcement of their own Constitutional rights, so flagrantly “violated” by the elected government, Saxena said, “This has perhaps been an irredeemable blow to 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.”

Citing that normally, any legislature, including Parliament of India convenes at least three sessions in a year, apart from special sessions, he said, “In a travesty of legislative practice, Delhi government has convened only five sessions in five years. The third Part of the Fifth Session of the Delhi Legislative Assembly was recently adjourned sine-die by the Hon’ble Speaker on 4^th December and has not been prorogued yet.”

The LG said Atishi, being the Leader of the House, may, in consultation with the Assembly Speaker, may convene a Special Sitting of the Assembly for laying these CAG Reports on 19th or 20th December, given the inordinate delay in the matter and that Assembly elections are impending.

“Ordinarily I would not have indicated the timeframe for calling a special sitting of the House 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,” he added.