CAG report on govt finances tabled in Assembly after L-G Saxena's intervention

new delhi: Accusing the Delhi government of violation of the Constitution of India, Delhi L-G VK Saxena said that the government is possibly the worst offender when it comes to undermining the highest constitutional watchdog of government finances — the CAG.

The L-G claimed that the Kejriwal led government is the only one in the country that violated its constitutionally mandated responsibility of laying the CAG reports relating to the accounts of Delhi in the State Assembly for four years in a row. "It took four letters from the L-G Secretariat dated September 24, 2021, March 10, 2022, April 6, 2022 and June 15, 2022 for the five reports of four years to be laid in the Assembly finally on July 5," the sources said. The CAG had also sent several letters to the government but failed to get a response.

L-G's office stated: "The 5 CAG reports of from the years 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21, detailing State Finances Audit Report, Revenue Economic, Social & General Sectors and PSUs, Social General & Economic Sectors (Non-PSUs), Finance Accounts of GNCTD and Appropriation Accounts of GNCTD, were pending with Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, since as long as when they were submitted by CAG." Saxena noted that the Finance Department of Delhi government had forwarded the files to Sisodia in his capacity as the Finance Minister on March 10, 2022 clearly mentioning pendency in this regard since 2017-18 to 2021-22. The file underlined that the said CAG reports had been pending at the level of the Finance Minister himself. However, Sisodia even then chose to sit on the file till June 30 after which the CM approved it on July 1, 2022 and sent to the L-G for recommending that the reports be laid in the Delhi Assembly.