The Delhi Assembly today formed a nine-member committee to look into complaints against violation of protocol norms and "contemptuous behaviour" by bureaucrats with legislators.
The House passed a resolution, moved by AAP MLA Vishesh Ravi, after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislators complained that officers are refusing to meet them.
The House also passed another resolution, moved by AAP Sourabh Bharadwaj, directing Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash to ensure that the conduct of officers is strictly as per the guidelines of the official dealings.
Prakash was today at the centre of attack by AAP legislators, with the resolution stating that some of the IAS and DANICS officers have been acting against their rules of conduct by not meeting the elected representatives of the Legislative Assembly of Delhi.
The resolution stated, "BJP is using some of IAS and DANICS officers as a tool for creating hurdles in goverance of Delhi."
The move came at a time when the AAP government and bureaucracy are at loggerheads over alleged attack on the chief secretary by some ruling party MLAs at the chief minister's residence in February.
The House Panel on violation of protocol and contemptuous behaviour by government officers with MLAs' consists of AAP MLAs - Sourabh Bharadwaj, Sanjeev Jha, Akhilesh Pati Tripathi, Some Dutt Sharma, Vishesh Ravi, Pankaj Pushkar, Bhawana Gaur, Fateh Singh and Surender Singh.
The committee will examine complaints to be referred by the Speaker pertaining to the violation of protocol norms laid down from to time-to-time regarding official dealings with MLAs.
Participating in a discussion over officers not meeting MLAs in the House, Bharadwaj said that officers are "duty-bound" to meet an elected representative.
"You (officers) may have a tussle with the Delhi government, but you will have to give respect to an elected MLA who represents 2.5 lakh people when he goes to meet an officer.
"Officers are duty-bound to meet officers and take their calls."
Bharadwaj said that the Delhi Assembly does not come under the government, officers or the Lt Governor.
He also attacked officers in the presence of chief secretary and senior bureaucrats, saying that officers behaved with AAP MLAs as we are "political Dalits".
"If MLAs seek appointment with officer, he or she has to meet him. It is the right of an MLA to receive the respect from the officer...
"To protect the democracy, elected MLAs should safeguard their right. How can an officer deny meeting MLAs? Denying meeting with MLAs is against the democracy," Bharadwaj said.
Citing an office memorandum of the DoPT, Bharadwaj said if officers do not meet MLAs, they can write to the Speaker and the nine-member committee will look into this.
As Bharadwaj was reading out the resolution, BJP members walked out of the House to register their protest.
Speaker Ram Niwas Goel also attacked the BJP, saying, "The LG office has been made den of politics of BJP."
Participating in the discussion, Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta and BJP MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa demanded apology of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash over alleged attack on the CS by some AAP MLAs in February.
"When Kejriwal can apologise in his defamation cases, why can't he apology to chief secretary to end tussle with the bureaucracy," Sirsa said.
Gupta said that by apologising in defamation cases, the chief minister has reduced his credibility to "zero".
"If the CM apologies to CS, his reputation will not go down. By making allegations during elections, they won 67 seats, but now he has apologised," he said.
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