Delhi HC to hear on Dec 9 plea by BJP MLAs seeking CAG reports in assembly

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court will hear on December 9 a plea by the city's opposition leaders seeking a direction to place Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports related to liquor duty, pollution and finance before the Assembly.

Justice Sanjeev Narula on Monday deferred hearing on the petition while noting that the pleadings in the case were not yet complete.

While the counsel appearing for the petitioners stressed that the matter was urgent as the current Assembly session would lapse on December 4, the lawyer for the Delhi government said this was "not the last session".

Senior advocate Sudhir Nandrajog, appearing for the Delhi government, said a reply to the petition was being prepared as the matter was earlier scheduled to come up on December 9. Even if the current session ended, the lieutenant governor has the power to re-convene it, he said.

"This is not the last session and is not even the last assembly in Delhi. The term of the Assembly is till February and the convening of the session is with the LG," he said.

On November 29, the court had advanced the date of hearing in the matter from December 9 to December 2 after BJP MLAs filed a plea seeking an "early hearing".

Senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, who appeared for the petitioners, contended that the government was acting in breach of its statutory duty by failing to "promptly" lay crucial CAG reports on various issues like pollution and liquor before the Assembly.

CAG's counsel said its reply was filed on Saturday and was yet to come on record.

In its reply, the CAG said eight reports pertaining to Delhi are pending with the city government for laying before the Legislative Assembly in accordance with the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) Act.

The CAG has said according to the legal framework, the Delhi government has to place the audit reports submitted by it before the Assembly and it has in the past written to the principal secretary (finance), requesting him to do the same.

According to the response, reports from 2022 to 2024 pertain to finance audits, air pollution, "revenue, economic, social and general sector and PSUs", children in need of care and protection, liquor and public health.

The petition has been filed by Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta and BJP MLAs Mohan Singh Bisht, Om Prakash Sharma, Ajay Kumar Mahawar, Abhay Verma, Anil Kumar Bajpai and Jitendra Mahajan.

On October 29, the high court issued notices to the Delhi government, the office of the Assembly speaker, the LG, the CAG and the accountant general (audit), Delhi, and sought their responses to the petition.

The plea claims that the 12 CAG reports from 2017-2018 to 2021-2022 are pending with Delhi Chief Minister Atishi, who also holds the finance portfolio.

The plea also alleges that despite the LG's repeated requests, these reports have not been sent to him for tabling before the Assembly.

The petition, filed by advocates Neeraj and Satya Ranjan Swain, said the BJP MLAs had approached the chief minister, chief secretary and speaker in the past but no action has been taken.

"Despite the LG's repeated requests and constitutional obligation, these reports were not sent to the LG and consequently, could not be tabled in the Delhi Legislative Assembly," it said.