"Dragging Your Feet": High Court Slams Delhi Government Over Auditor's Report

The Delhi High court pulled up the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government over a delay in placing before the Assembly Speaker a report by the Comptroller Auditor General (CAG) on the ongoing liquor scam, which resulted in the arrests of former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and senior leader Manish Sisodia. 

"The way you've been dragging your feet is something unfortunate. You should've been prompt in sending it (reports) to the Speaker and having a discussion at the floor of the assembly," the court told the Delhi government.

Justice Sachin Datta added, "The delay in sending the reports to the Lieutenant Governor and your handling of the matter raises doubts about your bona fides."

The court also posted the plea by BJP MLAs, including Vijender Gupta, seeking a special session of the Delhi Assembly for later today, but also said, "We are at a stage that the elections are around the corner. How can there be a special session now?"

The report on the Delhi government's excise policy revealed a revenue loss of Rs 2,026 crore to the state exchequer. The report's findings stated that there were deviations from the objective of the policy, a lack of transparency in pricing, and violations in issuing licenses that were not penalised.

Of the losses worth Rs 2,026 crore to the state exchequer, the loss of Rs 890 crore resulted from the government's failure to re-tender the surrendered licenses before the policy period concluded, according to the report. Moreover, exemptions granted to the zonal licenses led to the loss of Rs 941 crore.

"The department was issuing licenses without checking various requirements relating to excise rules and terms and conditions for the issue of different types of licenses. It was observed that licenses were issued without ensuring solvency, submission of audited financial statements, submission of data regarding sales and wholesale price declared in other states and across the year, verification of criminal antecedents from the competent authority, etc.," the executive summary of the CAG report read.

AAP MP Sanjay Singh on Sunday, however, questioned the origins of the CAG report in question, which revealed a significant revenue loss of Rs 2,026 crore due to irregularities in the Delhi government's excise policy. He asserted that the Model Code of Conduct is in place and the BJP is "violating" the regulations by spreading fake news.

Earlier, the Delhi Assembly Secretariat had informed the court that tabling the CAG reports on city administration in the Assembly would serve no useful purpose, given that its tenure ends in February. The submission was made in response to a petition by seven BJP MLAs regarding the issue of tabling the CAG reports in the Assembly.

This came after the Delhi High Court sought responses from the Delhi Government, the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, and other respondents regarding a petition filed by BJP MLAs seeking a special Assembly session to present 14 CAG reports. The Delhi government had informed the court that all 14 reports had been sent to the Speaker.

With the Delhi Assembly polls set to be held on February 5, the exchanges  between AAP and BJP have become heated up, with the latter attacking the former over Mr Kejriwal's 'Sheesh Mahal' residence. The BJP referred to CAG findings suggesting that the renovation cost of the CM house was raised from Rs 8 crore to Rs 32 crore due to corruption.

Last year, Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva's dip in the Yamuna to highlight an alleged Rs 8,500 crore scam in the river cleaning project took a wrong turn when he developed skin allergies.