Delhi’s Lokayukta has asked the Assembly to issue notices to all 70 MLAs on a complaint seeking annual declaration of assets and liabilities by legislators — an instruction that Speaker Ram Niwas Goel said on Thursday the watchdog had “no right” to give.
Cites complaint
In a letter to the Delhi Assembly Secretary on January 11, the Office of the Lokayukta cited a complaint filed by advocate Vivek Garg on January 9 against 66 MLAs “for not filing their Assets and Liabilities details before the Competent Authority for the financial year 2015-2016, 2016-2017 & 2017-2018 [sic]”.
Though the party was not named, the letter refers to the 66 Aam Aadmi Party MLAs in the Assembly. The letter further stated that though the complainant had not mentioned the remaining four MLAs, the Lokayukta, Justice (retd) Reva Khetrapal, had ordered on January 10 to include them.
The letter to the Assembly said the Lokayukta had said on January 10 that notices should be sent to all 70 MLAs, including the four BJP MLAs, asking them if they had submitted their annual returns and to share copies of the same, if they had.
The Lokayukta said the Assembly Secretary would serve the notices to the MLAs.
‘Highly objectionable’
Stating that he would be writing to the Lokayukta soon, the Speaker said the letter was “highly objectionable”.
“In the list of 66 MLAs that the complainant, who is from the BJP, gave, my name and the Deputy Speaker’s are also included. The Lokayukta has no right to issue the Speaker and Deputy Speaker a notice. The complaint should have been rejected. Then, the complainant should have been asked if the four remaining MLAs had declared their assets in interest of natural justice,” Mr. Goel said.
Terming the complaint “biased”, the Speaker added that the “Assembly is not a post office” for sending notices to MLAs.
“There is no law that requires MLAs to declare their assets every year in Delhi. When I enquired from the Delhi government, I came to know that the Lokayukta was seeking an exemption from installation of GPS on all government cars that was denied on January 9. Maybe, this letter is in response to that,” said Mr. Goel.
GPS installation
On January 9, Delhi General Administration Department Minister Gopal Rai had written in a note to the GAD Secretary that he could “not find any justification” in the proposal to exempt the Office of the Lokayukta from installation of GPS in their cars.
The Speaker added that while Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs were told to file their annual assets’ reports with the Speaker of their respective House after the Centre received direction from the Supreme Court in March 2018, there was no such requirement for MLAs.
