Dissolve 3-member committee, return files to depts: Delhi govt

The Delhi government today once again appealed to Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung to dissolve his three-member committee and return the files pertaining to the decisions taken by the government to the concerned departments.
The AAP government asserted that the "failure" to do so would only "cause unlawful obstruction in discharge of its Constitutional obligations."
In his letter to Jung, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia underlined the "dangerous" precedent being set by the LG office by unsettling the decisions taken by the government long after they had been implemented.
He urged the LG to "observe and respect the division of powers."

The Delhi Council has dutifully followed the administrative practices and constitutional conventions well established for the past 25 years, the letter said.
The move comes a few days after the Lt Governor rejected Delhi Council's advice to him to dissolve his three-member committee set up to examine the 400 files pertaining to the decisions taken by the Arvind Kejriwal-led government.

While turning down the government's advice, the LG office had said that some misdemeanours were of the gravity that already these matters were in the process of being referred to the CBI for investigation.
"As per the rules, a minister is not required to refer any matter to the Lt Governor except in certain cases which are categorically specified...Lt Governor should immediately dissolve the three-member committee...

"The recourse to such enquiry committee is also in opposition to extant rules and constitutional conventions," Sisodia said in the letter.
The Deputy CM said the Delhi government has been continuously making attempts to resolve the issues.
He said the Delhi Council also recognises that in case LG wishes to refer any matter for consideration of the Council, such recourse is available under Rule 49 of TBR and Section 45 of Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) Act, 1991.
The committee was formed by Jung on August 30 and is chaired by former CAG V K Shunglu. Ex-chief election commissioner N Gopalaswami and ex-chief vigilance commissioner Pradeep Kumar are its members.

Last week, the LG had extended the tenure of the committee till December 2.
The LG office while rejecting the AAP government's demand on the issue had said the Cabinet resolution was evidently an attempt to "mislead" the public and take the attention away from "grave misdemeanours" evident in some of the files.