Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel said on Tuesday that he had written to Lokayukta Justice (retd.) Reva Khetrapal seeking action against a petitioner for a “motivated complaint” that asked for declaration of assets by Aam Aadmi Party MLAs.
The Delhi Assembly Secretary had on January 11 received a letter from the Office of the Lokayukta asking the Assembly to issue notices to all 70 MLAs seeking their assets’ declarations for three financial years.
The Lokayukta’s action was based on a complaint by Vivek Garg on January 9 that named the 66 AAP MLAs, leading the Lokayukta to add the renaming four BJP MLAs.
Sharing the letter he sent to the Lokayukta on Monday, Mr. Goel said at a press conference on Tuesday that the Office of the Lokayukta did not have the jurisdiction to instruct the Assembly to issue notices. He added that there was no legal requirement for MLAs to declare their assets and that the complainant was associated with the BJP.
“Although, strictly speaking, no harm can be claimed to have been done to the MLAs merely on issue of a notice, but the manner in which the entire proceedings have been handled is a cause of concern... The petition is nothing but a politically motivated and ill-advised attempt to implead only the MLAs from the ruling party,” the Speaker wrote.
He added that the petition should have been thrown out at the initial stage as among the 66 MLAs named by the complainant were the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker, who are beyond the jurisdiction of the Lokayukta.
“The petition relies on provisions of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, and the Representation of People Act, 1951, to claim that the MLAs of Delhi Assembly are bound to submit their returns of assets and liabilities. None of these provisions applies to the MLAs of [the] Delhi Assembly,” Mr. Goel wrote.
He said a complaint should be filed under the Lokayukta Act against the petitioner “for filing such false and baseless complaints”.
He added that the Assembly Secretariat was seeking legal opinion on whether the legislature can initiate a breach of privileges proceedings against the complainant.
