Urging the lieutenant-Governor to call an emergency Cabinet meeting to end the friction between Delhi Government and its senior officers, leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta on Friday said that the l-G should instruct the Delhi Chief Minister and the Ministers to work as per the Constitution.
“They must stop ordering the officials to violate the Constitutional provisions while adhering to the Government’s directives. In a bid to cause a standoff with the Centre and the Delhi l-G, the Delhi Government has, now, resorted to harassing the Government officials for doing their duty. A few days back, the AAP Government insisted that the officials of the Delhi law Department complete all the formalities pertaining to hike in circle rates without the Delhi lG’s approval and make a recommendation directly to the Delhi Government,” said Gupta.
The Assistant legal Advisor in the law Department, notwithstanding the diktat, wrote a note on the file stating that that the permission of the lG is required in the matter. The Delhi Government, therefore, ordered the surrendering of the post of the Assistant legal Advisor.
“Following this, law Minister Kapil Mishra summoned all officials of the law Department and warned them that if, in future, they disregard the orders of the Government or talk of sending file to the l-G’s office; they will face the same fate as that of the Assistant legal Advisor. These comments by the Minister have added fuel to the fire, causing immense resentment among the officials of the department, who decided to go by the legal framework in conduct of their duty,” said Gupta.
“As a result, the Principal Secretary (law) has sent the file relating to the circle rates to the Chief Secretary, Delhi for final noting. The law Minister Kapil Mishra was so irked by the move that he refused to give appointment to the Principal Secretary (law). The situation of the officials of the Revenue Department is similar,” he added.
The Delhi Government has ordered the Revenue Department officials to issue the notification on hike in circle rates without getting permission from the Delhi lG. The officials have refused to implement unlawful order of the Delhi Government. “This is the reason that the Kejriwal Government has still not been able to increase the circle rates in
Delhi and people are getting some respite from property related inflation till now,” said Gupta.