New Delhi: In yet another example of the ongoing tussle between Arvind Kejriwal's Delhi government and Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena, the latter has removed 'government nominees', including AAP leader Jasmine Shah, appointed to the boards of power discoms.
The nominees have been replaced with senior officials, sources at the Lieutenant Governor's office reported on Saturday. Besides Jasmine, an AAP spokesperson, those removed from the boards include Naveen Gupta, son of AAP MP N D Gupta, and other private persons "illegally" appointed as 'government nominees', news agency PTI reported quoting sources.
The ruling Aam Aadmi Party termed the LG's orders removing Shah and Gupta from the boards of discoms "illegal and unconstitutional". The LG does not have the power to issue such orders, it claimed. The sources at the LG's office, meanwhile, said the finance secretary, power secretary and the MD of Delhi Transco will now represent the city government on the boards of the discoms, in line with the prevalent practice.
Delhi LG had ordered the immediate removal of Shah, Gupta and other private individuals "illegally" appointed as government nominees to the boards of the BYPL, BRPL and the TPDDL, they said. The AAP, however, said only the elected government has powers to issue orders on the subject of electricity. "The LG has made a complete mockery of all Supreme Court orders and the Constitution. He is openly going around saying that SC orders are not binding on him," the party added.
Also read: To Delhi LG invite, Kejriwal says 'Thank you...some other time'
The LG had invoked "difference of opinion" under Article 239AA of the Constitution of India after the Kejriwal government persisted upon their continuance as government nominees, despite "proven misconduct and maleficence", by allegedly benefiting the discoms to the tune of more than 8,000 crore, the sources claimed.
Saxena had referred the matter to the President of India for a decision. He had asked for the removal of the "political appointees" from the discom boards with immediate effect, they added. The Delhi government owns 49 per cent stake in the discoms. Senior officers used to serve on the boards of the discoms earlier, but the Kejriwal government started nominating politically affiliated persons to them, the sources claimed.
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, meanwhile, dubbed the removal of the members as "unconstitutional and illegal". The LG has started a new trend of reversing decisions taken by the elected government of Delhi, Sisodia said at a press conference here. The deputy chief minister also rubbished the charges that the members appointed by the Arvind Kejriwal government provided benefits to the tune of Rs 8,000 crore to the private discoms.
The LG can get the alleged "scam" investigated by any central agency, he added. "A new trend has been started by the LG as he reversed the Delhi Cabinet's four-year-old decision and removed the members appointed to the boards of the discoms. This way, he could now upturn the government's decisions taken even four-10 years back," Sisodia said.
The deputy chief minister, who also holds the charge of the Delhi power department, said Saxena's decision was "unconstitutional, illegal and contrary to the established procedures". Sisodia also objected to the LG's decision to remove the members citing "difference of opinion". "The 'difference of opinion' provision cannot be used like this. There is a procedure to do so and it can not be cited to frequently reverse the decisions taken by the government," he said.
