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Committee accuses Delhi's Kejriwal Govt of misusing power

by IBNS 05 Apr 2017, 08:28 pm

New Delhi, Apr 6 (IBNS) : In what could trigger a fresh bout of squabbling between Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party Government and the BJP-ruled Centre, a three-member committee set up by Delhi's former Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung has alleged "gross misuse of power by it," media reports said.

The committee was set up to scrutinise the decisions taken by the Delhi Government, which has been in a prolonged tussle with the Centre over primacy in the governance of the national capital territory, which is neither a union territory nor a full-fledged state.

According to reports, the committee has disapproved the Government's decisions like land allotment for the ruling party's office, declaring it "null and void"  and the appointment of Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain's daughter in an important health project, found to be one of the several acts of "irregularity." 

Jung, who as the Centre's representative had a bitter tussle with Kejriwal and his Government throughout his tenure as Lieutenant Governor, had set up the committee in August last year under VK Shanglu, a former Comptroller and Auditor General after the  High Court ruled that the LG is the administrative head of Delhi. 

In a scathing criticism, the committee report has said that while the powers of top bureaucrats in Delhi has been usurped, the Government has abused its powers to benefit relatives of Government functionaries and ministers have made it an order to not to get their decisions approved by the LG.

According to NDTV, the report has also questioned the Delhi Government posting officers to the Anti-Corruption Branch, other decisions on transfer and appointments of officers and also foreign travel by Ministers without the LG's sanction.

Reacting to the committee's observation, Satyendra Jain said it's simply an act of "mudslinging", while claiming that there were no irregularities in her daughter's appointment, NDTV reported. 

 Jain alleged that details of the Shunglu report, submitted in November, have been made public now to "malign AAP" ahead of crucial civic elections in Delhi this month.