Manish Sisodia Writes To Delhi Lt Governor, Asks Not To Bypass Government

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Friday wrote a letter to Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena, reminding him that he does not have the power to bypass the city government by issuing orders directly to bureaucrats and asking for files.

Mr Sisodia said he was writing the letter "In light of certain extremely worrying developments which have been brought to my notice, namely, that your office has of late, in the recent past, resorted to the practice of calling for files from various departments".

"This unwholesome development apart from being contrary to settled tradition and practice pertaining to the transaction of business of the Government, is contrary to the applicable constitutional provisions," he said.

The Deputy Chief Minister reminded the Lt Governor that apart from three subjects of public order, police and land, the elected government of Delhi remains the decision-making authority.

"It is most humbly submitted that the recent actions of Your Excellency giving orders directly to officers on transferred subjects bypassing Council of Ministers is contrary to law and orders of Hon'ble SC (Supreme Court," Mr Sisodia wrote.

"I therefore beseech you to... take timely and necessary corrective steps to eschew avoidable controversy and embarrassment," he added.

The letter is the latest in a series of prickly exchanges between Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government and the Lt Governor, who is a representative of the BJP-led government at the centre.

It was on the Lt Governor's insistence that central agencies have launched a probe into the now-scrapped Delhi liquor policy, which has led to raids on Mr Sisodia. Separately, the agencies have arrested Delhi minister Satyendar Jain in a money laundering case.

Growing increasingly assertive since his appointment in May, VK Saxena has recently met with Union Minister Nitin Gadkari to discuss infrastructure projects in Delhi, as well as exchanged notes with the BJP government in Haryana over a sanitation issue.