NEW DELHI: Days after BJP defeated AAP in the assembly polls, the law department of Delhi government has sought details of all court cases filed by the outgoing dispensation against the Centre and lieutenant governor in the last few years.
Sources claimed more than Rs 300 crore was spent on “inter-department” litigation and court battles between the AAP govt and the Centre or the LG in the last few years. It also resulted in the loss of precious man-hours, which now needed to be cut down. They added that a comprehensive report on the ongoing litigation would be placed before the new dispensation to take a view.
The AAP govt, the LG, and the Centre were involved in frequent tussles over various issues related to governance, resulting in a number of court cases. There was an increase in the number of court cases after V K Saxena was sworn in as LG of Delhi in May 2022. Some of the prominent cases being heard in Supreme Court and high court include the outgoing AAP dispensation challenging the law bringing ‘services’ under LG’s domain and the formation of a high-level committee, with Saxena as its chairman, to prevent pollution in the Yamuna.
‘Govt likely to move court to withdraw all such cases’
A senior Delhi govt official said it was the BJP-led central govt that decided that the services-related matters in Delhi govt should come under the direct control of the LG and brought an ordinance after the Supreme Court decided otherwise, subsequently backing it up with a law on the issue.
“With BJP now in office in Delhi, there will be no need to continue such cases. The new dispensation may like to move the court to withdraw such cases,” said an official. “The withdrawal of these cases will also do away with unnecessary friction between the Centre/LG and the elected dispensation, and the two will be able to develop a cordial relationship and work towards the development of the city,” he added.
In an internal communication to all additional chief secretaries, principal secretaries and secretaries, the law, justice and legislative affairs department of Delhi sought the detailed list of all cases, mentioning the issue involved in the case, the last directions issued by the respective court, and the replies filed by the department concerned.
The law department also sought to know the names of the counsel engaged by the Chief Minister or ministers in the outgoing dispensation, the details of the defence counsel of the administrative department, and the next date of hearing in each case.
In a separate office memorandum, the law department advised the standing counsel, additional standing counsel, and empanelled counsel to ensure that written and verbal statements made by them before any court are strictly in consonance with the written instructions given to them with the approval of the administrative secretary of the department concerned.