 "Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) activists staging a protest demanding resignation of Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley over the alleged irregularities in the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) in Gurgaon")
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday made it clear that his government was not dragging its feet on the Delhi District Cricket Association (DDCA) probe and the inquiry commission headed by former Solicitor General of India Gopal Subramanium had already started its work.
Kejriwal asserted that the commission was legal and rejected the claims allegedly by the Lt Governor’s office that the Delhi government had no jurisdiction to initiate such a probe. The chief minister made it clear that now only a high court or the Supreme Court could stop the inquiry. Kejriwal blamed Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raid on his office.
The CM said: "We will not back off. If MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) has any problem with Delhi government's notification to appoint the commission of inquiry to probe into the alleged irregularities in DDCA, it may approach the high court." He said an elected government has power to constitute a commission of inquiry and the Centre can’t declare it "null and void".
Both the Delhi government and L-G are apparently quibbling over the interpretation of the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952. While the L-G maintains that since Delhi is a Union Territory, a commission of inquiry can be ordered only with the concurrence of the Centre, through the L-G; the Kejriwal government is relying on the fact that it is a democratically elected government.
Kejriwal has gone on record to state that the action amounts to "unjustified interference" as the inquiry is "perfectly" legal and that Union Minister Arun Jaitley should cooperate with the inquiry commission and stop "misusing" the L-G’s office. He added, "We are not scared when all the agencies under them, including police, CBI and Directorate of Revenue Intelligence are after us. Why are they scared of one commission of inquiry?"
The hostilities between the Delhi government and the Centre have been escalating with Jaitley filing a defamation suit against Kejriwal and other top AAP leaders. This past week, the Delhi CM set up the Commission of inquiry under Gopal Subramanian who will take a token fee of Rupee one. Commission of Inquiry will identify any acts of omission and commission by DDCA and its office-bearers during the period between January 1, 1992 and November 30, 2015 and fix responsibility. The state cricket body had been headed by Jaitley for around 13 years from 1999 to 2013.
The tussle between the BJP led Centre and Delhi government shows no signs of abating.
