Reprieve for AAP ahead of polls: Delhi HC refuses to order tabling of CAG reports in Assembly

The Delhi HC flagged the "inordinate delay" on part of the city government in tabling the CAG reports. (File Photo: PTI)

In a reprieve for the ruling Aam Admi Party, the Delhi High Court on Friday refused to direct a special sitting of the Delhi Legislative Assembly to table various audit reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) regarding the administration of the city-state for now.

A bench comprising Justice Sachin Datta, while flagging "inordinate delay" on part of the Delhi government in tabling the reports, refused to intervene and issue directions.

The court was hearing a plea filed by Opposition MLAs seeking a sitting of the Delhi assembly for the tabling of CAG reports.

The court had reserved the order on January 16 after hearing all the parties.

The plea, filed by Opposition leader Vijender Gupta and BJP MLAs Mohan Singh Bisht, Om Prakash Sharma, Ajay Kumar Mahawar, Abhay Verma, Anil Kumar Bajpai and Jitendra Mahajan last year, sought a direction to the Speaker to call a sitting of the Assembly for the purpose of tabling the CAG reports.

The counsel for the Speaker and the Delhi government opposed the passing of such a direction by the court and said there was no urgency to table the reports at this stage when the assembly elections were due to be held soon.

In a reply, the Assembly secretariat said no useful purpose would be served in laying CAG reports before the assembly when its tenure was ending in February and no judicial order could be passed to the speaker in matters of internal functioning of the legislative assembly, PTI reported.

During a hearing held on January 13, the court said the CAG reports should have been promptly placed before the assembly for discussion and the state government "dragging its feet" on the issue raised "doubts on its bonafides".

The court had earlier sought the CAG's reply to the plea by the Opposition leaders asked the auditor to explain why its report could not be made public. The AAP has so far maintained that the CAG report is non-existent since it hasn't been tabled in the Assembly or published on the CAG's website.

News reports citing the findings in the yet-to-be-tabled CAG reports have claimed that the AAP government was allegedly involved in serious irregularities in the excise policy that resulted in a loss of Rs 2,027 crore to the exchequer.

As per reports, the CAG audit found several lapses on part of the AAP government including improper licensing practices and lack of oversight on part of the excise department in monitoring the distribution and quality control of liquor.

The CAG audit, among other points, also flagged concerns in pricing control stating that liquor manufacturers and wholesalers were given discretionary powers to set prices, leading to price manipulation and contributed to the decline in sales, reports said.