"AAP govt in Delhi sitting over 11 CAG reports Delhi": LG VK Saxena

New Delhi [India], August 16 : Delhi Lieutenant General VK Saxena flagged the inordinate delay by the AAP government in laying 11 Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) reports in the Delhi Assembly, said an official release on Friday.
According to an official press note from the Delhi LG, "The AAP government in Delhi is sitting over 11 CAG reports. LG VK Saxena has flagged the inordinate delay by the AAP government in laying these reports in the Delhi Assembly."
"The 11 CAG reports pertain to State Finances, Pollution Mitigation, Regulation and Supply of Liquor in Delhi, Appropriation Accounts, regarding PSUs and social and general sectors and the Performance Audit Report on Children in Need of Care and Protection are pending with Finance Minister Atishi," said the press note.
The official note also stated that some of these CAG reports have been pending since 2022.
The CAG Report on "Performance Audit on Regulation and Supply of Liquor in Delhi" for the period 2017-18 to 2021-22 was sent to the Delhi Government on March 4, 2024, and it has been pending with Atishi Marlena since April 11, 2024.
The CAG Report on "Performance Audit on Regulation and Supply of Liquor in Delhi" is critical in the wake of the AAP Government's controversial and failed Excise Policy, which was later scrapped by the Kejriwal Government following charges of rampant corruption.
It further said that on July 18, 2024, the Controller of Accounts, GNCTD, informed the LG Secretariat that all the above GAG Audit Reports are pending with the Finance Minister, Atishi Marlena.
The LG has written a letter to Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel, urging him to ensure that these reports are tabled in the Assembly at the earliest.
On February 22, 2024, Saxena also written to CM Arvind Kejriwal regarding pendency of these CAG Report and requested him to "advise the Finance Minister, Delhi, to expeditiously lay them before the Assembly."
As per the official note, "It is constitutional mandate to lay the CAG Reports on the State Finances and performance of various sectors related to governance in Delhi, as per Article 151 of the Constitution read with Section 48 of the Government of NCT of Delhi Act, 1991 and Regulation 210 of the Regulations on Audit and Accounts, 2007."
"By not laying the GAG Reports in the Delhi Legislative Assembly, the Delhi Government is avoiding the scrutiny by the Legislative Assembly and the public at large, undermining the very basis of democratic accountability," LG note stated.
"Such a lapse by the Government of Delhi in the matter of laying pending CAG Reports before the Delhi Legislative Assembly amounts to gross dereliction of their constitutional obligations," LG press note said.
Earlier also, a number of CAG reports including those on the performance of Delhi Jal Board and the private power discoms in Delhi were deliberately kept pending by the AAP Government for several years, prompting the LG to flag the delays.