Highlighting the importance of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India on the day of tabling its report on previous government’s working in Delhi assembly, Speaker Vijender Gupta on Tuesday said it is a constitutional body which promotes accountability, transparency and good governance, and expressed it was a surprising fact that CAG reports have not been tabled in the House since the year 2017-18.
Gupta said that he was deeply distressed that the reports were suppressed and there has been a deliberate and systematic violation of the Constitutional mandate by the previous government by not tabling them in the House.
The Speaker said,” I wish to draw the attention of our members towards the observation made by Honorable Delhi High Court in its Judgment dated 24.01.2025 in Writ Petition (C) No.18021/2024. I read it from the Judgment as it is. The Hon’ble Delhi High Court held: …it would be subversive of the constitutional mandate to with-hold these reports from the legislature for an inordinately long period after the same have been forwarded by the CAG to the concerned government…”
He further mentioned Paragraph 41 from the judgment and said, “It is quite evident that most of these CAG Reports were kept pending with the respondent no.1 (Delhi Govt.)/ respondent no.2 (Chief Minister) for an inordinately long period of time.”
He recalled that when he was the Leader of the Opposition during the previous government’s regime, the MLAs under his leadership had requested the then Speaker of the Assembly, the then Chief Minister, Finance Minister and Chief Secretary to table the CAG report in the House.
He mentioned that it was very important to get information about the financial condition of the state, and further said he is deeply pained by the fact that the report was suppressed and the previous government deliberately violated the Constitutional provisions by not tabling the report in the House.
Gupta also said that there is background to the process of tabling these reports, which needs to be highlighted in order to aid MLAs in their deliberations on the reports.
The speaker also said that CAG’s functioning has been called the basic structure of the Constitution by the Supreme Court.
CAG provides independent and credible assurance to the public, legislature and executive that public money is being collected and used effectively and efficiently.
The speaker expressed hope that the members will have a meaningful deliberation on the findings of the auditor general.
Meanwhile, one of the fourteen reports of CAG, which was on the Excise Policy was tabled by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta in the house.
The report highlights the alleged irregularities in the policy that was brought during the previous regime of AAP dispensation in Delhi.