Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena Monday wrote to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal questioning the “delay” in tabling of four CAG audit reports from 2017 to 2021, which were tabled in one go recently, and said this was against rules and procedures.
Saxena also said the L-G office frequently flagged the issue of how the four reports were pending until recently with the Deputy Chief Minister’s office, and a reminder was sent as well. “Eventually, all the above reports were laid before the Legislative Assembly on 05.07.2022 after a considerable gap of time”, he said.
“It is observed that many irregularities pointed out in the above reports are of serious nature requiring urgent attention. Conduct of audit is essential for ensuring accountable governance. Securing timely action on the audit observations is a key responsibility of the government, which is expected to ensure judicious use of public funds. Inordinate delay in laying the audit reports before the Legislative Assembly not only delayed timely corrective action but also indirectly resulted in perpetuating stated deficiencies, thus, defeating the purpose of the audit in terms of ensuring efficiency, accountability and compliance with laid down rules and procedures,” said the L-G.
He further said: “I will once again urge you to ensure that in future, reports of the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India relating to the GNCTD are laid in time before the Legislative Assembly…”
The Delhi government refused to comment on the matter.
The Aam Aadmi Party, however, sought to downplay the matter. “The L-G has been sent only for this purpose… Taking a serious view of any allegation levelled by the L-G and the BJP is a waste of time,” AAP’s national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh told reporters when asked for his comment on the issue. (with PTI inputs)
