Delhi HC Declines BJP MLAs’ Plea For Special Assembly Session To Table CAG Reports, Questions AAP Govt Over Delay
Delhi High Court declined ordering a special assembly session to discuss CAG reports. However, it questioned the AAP government for delaying the tabling of the reports.
The Delhi High Court on Friday refused to direct the convening of a special session of the Delhi Legislative Assembly to table multiple reports from the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG). However, Justice Sachin Datta observed that the Delhi government had caused an inordinate delay in tabling the reports and underlined that presenting them before the Assembly was a mandatory constitutional obligation.
A petition was filed last year by Opposition leader Vijender Gupta and BJP MLAs—Mohan Singh Bisht, Om Prakash Sharma, Ajay Kumar Mahawar, Abhay Verma, Anil Kumar Bajpai, and Jitendra Mahajan—seeking a direction to the Speaker to call an Assembly sitting for the tabling of 14 CAG reports related to the Delhi government's policy initiatives. The plea was filed through advocates Neeraj and Satya Ranjan Swain, news agency PTI reported.
During the hearing, the senior counsel representing the Delhi Assembly Speaker and the government opposed the petition, arguing that there was no urgency to table the reports as the Assembly elections were imminent. Senior Advocate Sudhir Nandrajog, appearing for the Speaker, contended that issuing such a direction would not serve any meaningful purpose since only 20 days remained in the current Assembly’s tenure, making it impractical to follow procedural requirements, as per news agency ANI.
The court, however, criticised the Delhi government for its handling of the reports, stating, "The way you have dragged your feet raises doubts about your bona fides." It further remarked, "You should have promptly forwarded the reports to the Speaker and initiated a discussion in the House," as quoted by ANI.
Advocate Anil Soni remarked, "...The Court held that it is very imperative and mandatory, it's a constitutional duty of the govt to place the CAG reports before the assembly. Second there has been an undue and inordinate delay in placing those CAG reports in the assembly so that the public can know the health of the government... Now, it is upon the Delhi govt itself; if it feels that the public should know about the health of the govt - they should place the report before the assembly before the assembly elections..."
#WATCH | On Delhi HC denies ordering special sitting of Delhi assembly to discuss CAG report, advocate Anil Soni says, "...The Court held that it is very imperative and mandatory, it's a constitutional duty of the govt to place the CAG reports before the assembly... Now, it is… pic.twitter.com/EB7c2nxGOh
— ANI (@ANI) January 24, 2025
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BJP Vs Delhi Govt Over Tabling Of CAG Reports
Earlier, the Delhi Assembly Secretariat had informed the court that tabling the reports at this stage would serve no useful purpose, given that the Assembly’s tenure ends in February. Meanwhile, the Delhi government stated that all 14 reports had already been sent to the Speaker.
Vijender Gupta, arguing on behalf of the BJP MLAs, maintained that as a House member, he had the right to receive and debate the reports. He urged the court to direct the Speaker to convene a special session, asserting that the matter was about government accountability rather than politics. The Delhi government opposed this, calling the petition politically motivated and indicating its plan to file a counter-affidavit, ANI reported.
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