The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has accused lieutenant Governor (l-G) Anil Baijal of allowing senior IAS officers posted with the Delhi Government to move Delhi High Court against the Delhi Assembly instead of initiating enquiry into desilting “irregularities” pointed out by the Petitions Committee of the House”, AAP MlA and spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj claimed on Saturday citing RTI queries
“The Petitions Committee of Delhi Assembly had recommended an enquiry into desilting irregularities in Public Works Department (PWD) and Municipal Corpoartions.
“The Chief Secretary and then PWD Secretary instead of agreeing to investigate serious charges of corruption, chose to challenge the Petitions Committee report in Delhi High Court. We have RTI replies that reveal that the l-G provided permissions to these IAS officers to file cases in the High Court against Delhi Assembly,” Bhardwaj, who is chairman of the Petitions Committee, told reporters.
In a significant development, the Delhi High Court had on Friday directed Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash and two other officers to appear before the committees of Delhi legislative Assembly, which had issued notices to them, warning them of contempt if they did not do so.
“last year during June-July 2017 , the Petitions Committee had visited over one hundred drains across Delhi under the three MCDs and the PWD. It was found that most of the reports related to desilting submitted by MCDs and PWD to the Assembly Committee as well as Delhi High Court were fabricated and were far from reality.
“The Assembly committee had recommended Vigilance and Anti Corruption Branch (ACB) inquiry into this deep rooted corruption. The l-G who headed the ACB and Vigilance Department did not even care to initiate the enquiry.
“The committee had also recommended action against the then PWD Secretary Ashwani Kumar but the l-G chose not to take any action on the officer,” Bhardwaj alleged.
The l-G and the AAP Government have been at loggerheads over various issues, with the latter accusing the l-G of stalling its work at the behest of the BJP-led Central Government.