L-G returns 47 unsigned files back to CMO

‘Documents still being sent without CM’s signature despite L-G’s letter earlier this week’

Lieutenant-Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena | Photo Credit: file photo

Days after flagging the issue to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Lieutenant-Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena returned 47 files that were not signed by the former, as per the Constitutional norms, but by the staff to the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), L-G House sources said on Saturday.

The files returned included those related to the Education Department and the Delhi Waqf Board among others, the sources said, adding that documents not bearing the Chief Minister’s signature were still being sent to Raj Niwas despite the L-G having written to Mr. Kejriwal this Monday, questioning his missing signature on the files.

Reacting to the development, Delhi government sources said, “He (the L-G) is acting like a headmaster of a primary school, unfit for the post he is holding.”

Rule violation

Terming it a violation of rules and procedures, Mr. Saxena had asked the Chief Minister to sign every file in the interest of “smooth and effective governance.” He had also suggested that Mr. Kejriwal introduce the e-office system, prevalent in most government offices now, to enable seamless movement of files.

“The Chief Minister has been sending files for the L-G’s consideration, opinion and approval without affixing his signatures; these are instead sent with comments such as ‘the CM has seen’ by the CMO staff without any grounds of urgency,” an L-G House source said.

This was a stark departure from the past when such files were duly signed by Chief Ministers, the source added.

According to the Manual of Office Procedure, 2022, it is only ‘in rare and urgent cases’, like when a Minister is on a tour or is sick, that their approval has to be taken on the telephone and the Minister’s decision is conveyed by their private secretary in writing.

In such cases, the L-G wrote, confirmation on the decision taken by the Minister is supposed to be obtained on the file when they return from tour. Submitting files “on a routine basis” under the signatures of officials from the CMO, the L-G had added, needed “to be discouraged/avoided” because it was not clear whether the proposal had been seen and approved by the Chief Minister.