AAP vs Delhi Lt Governor After Party Nominees To Private Discoms Removed
AAP candidates were replaced by senior government officials.
New Delhi:
In a major setback for the Aam Aadmi party, Delhi’s Deputy Governor VK Saxena today removed two candidates she supported from the boards of private utility companies. Mr Saxena removed AAP spokeswoman Jasmine Shah and Naveen ND Gupta, son of AAP MP ND Gupta, saying they were illegally ‘government candidates’ on the boards of privately run nightclubs BYPL, BRPL (Anil Ambani) and NDPDCL ( Tata) been appointed). AAP candidates were replaced by senior government officials.
AAP called the order “unconstitutional and illegal,” adding that only the elected government has the power to enact electricity regulations. “The LG has ridiculed all Supreme Court orders and the Constitution. He goes around openly and says orders from the SC are not binding on him,” the party said.
VK Saxena has requested her removal on the basis of a report by the Secretary-General alleging that the AAP candidates gave financial benefits to private nightclubs at the expense of the state treasury.
AAP had previously dismissed the allegations, saying regular audits of discos would be carried out in accordance with Cabinet decisions.
“They had colluded with private representatives on the boards of Anil Ambani-owned nightclubs and bestowed on them a benefit of Rs 8,000 crore at the expense of the treasury,” the LG’s order said.
“Finance Minister, Energy Minister and MD, Delhi Transco will now represent the government at these Ambani and Tata owned discos, as has been the practice since Sheila Dikshit’s time as Chief Minister when these discos were created,” it added.
The lieutenant governor said appointing senior government officials to these bodies was the norm until the AAP government led by Prime Minister Arvind Kejriwal appointed party officials.
VK Saxena invoked “disagreements” under Article 239AA of the Constitution after Arvind Kejriwal’s government insisted on continuing in these bodies “despite proven misconduct and malice on their part”.
Mr. Saxena had previously submitted the matter to the President for a decision.
“The Delhi government, which owns 49% of the shares in the private discos, nominated senior government officials so that the interests of the government and the people of Delhi could be taken into account in disco board decisions,” the order said.
“However, these AAP nominees traded commissions and bribes in the discos in a quid pro quo arrangement, rather than acting vigilantly in the interests of the people and the Delhi government, in league with the BRPL and BYPL boards and facilitating a decision by their boards to lower LPSC rates from 18% to 12%, thereby wrongfully benefiting them Rs 8468 crore – an amount that would have gone to the Delhi Treasury,” it added.
Jasmine Shah was ousted as deputy chair of the Delhi government’s Dialogue and Development Commission of Delhi (DDCD) think tank in November last year for allegedly using public office for personal political gain. His offices were sealed by the state planning board by order of the lieutenant governor dated November 17.
The DDCD Deputy Chairman enjoys the rank of Cabinet Minister and is entitled to the benefits and privileges of a Minister of the Government of Delhi, such as official accommodation, office, vehicle and personal staff.
Arvind Kejriwal and his party are locked in a lengthy dispute with the centre-appointed lieutenant governor.
Mr Kejriwal has said the LG does not have independent decision-making powers, according to a 2018 Supreme Court ruling. He said there is a clear division of power, with police, land and public order falling under the LG and all other issues falling under the elected Delhi government.
On July 4, 2018, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court issued an order stating that “the Lieutenant Governor was not vested with independent decision-making authority (regarding the delegated subjects).”
“Furthermore, the order reiterates that ‘the Lieutenant Governor has been given no independent authority to make decisions except in matters in which he exercises his discretion as a judicial or quasi-judicial authority under any statute,’ implying that that the LG only has one independent authority in cases where the LG may need to act like a judge resolving conflicts between people,” Mr Kejriwal said.
The two met for over an hour last month, immediately after which the Chief Minister of Delhi claimed that the Deputy Governor’s interference in the work of the elected government had increased by the day in recent months.
Refuting Kejriwal’s statements, a Raj Niwas official said that all of his statements attributed to the LG were “misleading, patently false and fabricated and twisted to suit a particular agenda”.
Arvind Kejriwal had called on the LG “not to politicize the lives and survival of Delhiites” and said this was not a good precedent for the future.