Delhi HC to hear on Monday plea against suppression of CAG reports by CM Atishi

The Delhi High Court is set to hear on Monday a plea filed by BJP legislators seeking direction to the Delhi government to forward 12 Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports to the Lt Governor (L-G).

As per the causelist published on the website of the Delhi HC, a bench of Justice Sanjeev Narula will resume to hear the matter on December 16.

In an earlier hearing held last week, the Delhi government told Justice Narula-led Bench that Chief Minister Atishi had forwarded CAG reports to the office of L-G.

After the counsel appearing for L-G said that Raj Bhavan had received some of the reports late on Wednesday, the Delhi HC decided to post the matter for hearing on December 16.

In its affidavit, the Finance Department said that the reports under reference were not pending before it but were with the office of Chief Minister Atishi, who also holds the portfolio of Finance Minister.

Earlier on October 29, the Delhi High Court agreed to examine the matter and issued notice to the Delhi government, the office of the Legislative Assembly Speaker, the L-G, CAG, and the Accountant General (Audit), Delhi.

The petition claimed that CAG reports relating to pollution and rules and regulations related to alcohol were not placed before the L-G by the Finance Ministry and remain pending with Chief Minister Atishi, who also holds the portfolio of Finance Minister.

"Despite the Lt. Governor's repeated requests and constitutional obligation, these reports were not sent to the Lt. Governor and consequently, could not be tabled in the Delhi Legislative Assembly,” said the plea filed by BJP MLAs Vijender Gupta, Mohan Singh Bisht, Om Prakash Sharma, Ajay Kumar Mahawar, Abhay Verma, Anil Bajpai and Jitender Mahajan.

It added that the Opposition leaders tried their best to table the CAG reports when the Vidhan Sabha session was held on September 26-27 after a long gap, but ‘no action was taken for such tabling of the reports’.

The petition said that this deliberate suppression of vital information not only violates democratic principles but also prevents proper scrutiny of government action and expenditures, raising serious questions about the government's financial propriety, transparency and accountability.

It further said that the delay was not merely a procedural oversight but a serious violation of constitutional obligations when the CAG had been forwarding the audit reports for laying before the Delhi Assembly.

It said that the CAG is a "constitutional watchdog" created with the objective of providing independent and credible assurance to the public, the legislature and the executive that the public funds are being collected and used effectively and efficiently.