Delhi Lieutenant Governor (LG) VK Saxena has written a letter to Chief Minister Atishi urging her to introduce Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports in the Delhi Legislative Assembly, insisting this process plays a critical role in holding the government accountable. He emphasized that this is required under the Constitution and various legal provisions.
The LG’s letter dated November 29 cited references from Article 151 of the Indian Constitution, Section 48 of the Government of NCT of Delhi Act, 1991, and Regulation 210 of the Regulations on Audit and Accounts, 2007. These rules require that the Lieutenant Governor ensure a report from the CAG is laid before the assembly for consideration.
In his communication, Saxena expressed concern over the non-tabulation of the CAG reports, calling it a serious violation of constitutional norms. He wrote, “The government of Delhi has deliberately avoided adhering to this fundamental constitutional duty, thus preventing public scrutiny of its performance. The CAG’s role is not just to ensure financial propriety, but also to assess the effectiveness of public expenditure.” Saxena mentioned that this issue had been raised previously with former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who had failed to address it, despite multiple reminders from the CAG office.
Saxena also provided a timeline of his repeated efforts to address the matter. He had raised the issue with Kejriwal on February 22 and later with the Speaker on August 9. Additionally, he said that the LG Secretariat had sent multiple communications to the Chief Secretary regarding the issue.
With the Assembly session currently underway, Saxena raised concerns over the CAG reports that are not in the list of items to be tabled during the session as per constitutional obligations of the government. He reminded CM Atishi, who handles the finance portfolio, about her responsibilities.
“It is troubling to address this matter to a Chief Minister who was elected on a platform of transparency and accountability, yet the government is avoiding a transparent discussion of its performance and expenditures before the Assembly,” Saxena wrote.
He ended with a hope that Atishi, having experience as a public leader with an academic background, would recognize the need to be governed by constitutional duties and also ensure public trust in this session of the Assembly.
Earlier, a section of BJP MLAs had met with LG Saxena and had requested him to ensure that the AAP government present the CAG reports in this current session, which commenced on Friday.
With inputs from ANI.