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Journalism of Courage
Lt Governor Anil Baijal permitted IAS officers to move Delhi High Court against the Delhi Assembly instead of initiating inquiry into desilting “irregularities” pointed out by the Petitions Committee of the House, AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj claimed on Saturday citing RTI queries. “The Petitions Committee of Delhi Assembly had recommended an inquiry into desilting irregularities in PWD and MCD.
“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 LG 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.
The Delhi High Court had yesterday 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 ACB inquiry into this deep-rooted corruption. The LG who headed the ACB and Vigilance Department did not even care to initiate the inquiry.
“The committee had also recommended action against the then PWD Secretary Mr Ashwani Kumar but the LG chose not to take any action on the officer,” Bhardwaj alleged.
The Delhi Lieutenant Governor and the AAP government have been at loggerheads over various issues, with the latter accusing the LG of stalling its work at the behest of the BJP-led central government.
