The differences between the Arvind Kejriwal Government and the bureaucracy once again came out in the open with Principal Secretary (law) R Kiran Nath refusing to follow the CM’s orders to surrender the services of assistant legal adviser Manish Gaur.
The Services department had directed that the services of Gaur be surrendered as he had advised the Government to take prior approval from lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung for issuing notification related to new circle rates in the national Capital.
Top sources said Principal Secretary Nath took a firm stand on the matter and conveyed to the Government that Gaur’s services cannot be surrendered as he had worked as per the parameters of the law. She said Gaur had acted only on her advise on this contentious matter and it would be wrong to penalise an officer as he had acted in accordance with the laid down rules and procedure.
“There is shortage of staff in the law department and work would be badly affected if he was surrendered,” Nath said. It may be noted that the AAP Government wanted to issue notification about new circle rates without taking prior approval of the l-G. But the NCT Act of Delhi clearly states that prior approval of Raj Niwas was mandatory for issuing any such notification.
On the other hand, Nath had also made it clear to Minister Kapil Mishra that he cannot interfere in the day-to-day functioning of the department. “The Minister can summon files related to only law department and he cannot summon files related other department which comes for legal opinion. The Minister can take policy decision only related to law department,” said sources.
A senior bureaucrat said soon after the Government started pressurising its officers to issue the notification on new circle rates, Gaur made it clear that such a thing was not possible without taking prior approval of the lieutenant Governor. But Gaur’s suggestion reportedly did not go well with the AAP Government which, in return, directed its services wing to surrender his services with immediate effect.
The CM had reportedly directed the revenue department to issue notification on new circle rates without sending any file related to the matter to the l-G. This was not the first occasion when the Kejriwal Government had decided to bypass Raj Niwas. The Government had for the second time sent the file related to notification of new circle rates to the revenue department.
On the first occasion, the revenue department had sent the file to chief secretary KK Sharma for getting the l-G’s approval.
The chief secretary, instead of sending it to the lieutenant-governor, had referred it back to the AAP Government, which reportedly directed the revenue department to issue a notification for new circle rates.