Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has received a letter from Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, VK Saxena, pleading with him to present the five CAG reports, which deal with the state finances of the Delhi government, to the Assembly.
“My Secretariat is in receipt of copies of communication from the Controller of Accounts, PAO, GNCTD addressed to the Secretary to the Hon’ble Finance Minister, GNCTD, pursuant to a letter by Principal Accountant General Audit, Delhi, requesting for 05 C&AG Reports and 01 GNCTD Accounts report to be cleared by the Finance Minister and sent to me for causing them to be laid before the Legislative Assembly,” read the letter sent to the Chief Minister.
Section 48 of the GNCTD Act, 1991, which mandates that CAG reports concerning the capital’s accounts be sent to the Lieutenant Governor for presentation before the Legislative Assembly, was emphasized by LG Saxena as a legal requirement. In addition, he brought up Article 151 of the Indian Constitution, which requires the Lieutenant Governor to arrange for the CAG reports to be presented to the Legislature.
“In this context, your attention is drawn to the fact that 05 reports of C&AG pertaining to State Finances as under, have been pending for consideration of the Hon’ble Minister of Finance, since August 2023,” the letter read.
“You will appreciate that the reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India are constitutionally-mandated independent and impartial assessments of the performance of the Government and in many ways are a guidance document for governments to assess their financial performance, the gains obtained through revenue and help the Government invoke corrective measures where necessary,” it said.
“It is an obligation of the Government of the day to share with the people, through the House, an objective account of its performance revenue and expenditure of public funds,” the letter added.
The letter went on, “You may advise the Hon’ble Finance Minister to expeditiously process these important reports, so that the same can be laid before the House within this session, since the Budget Session of the Assembly is in currency.”
