House panels request judiciary not to interfere in proceedings

NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party MLAs Saurabh Bhardwaj and Madan Lal, who are heading the Petition and Privileges committees of the Delhi Assembly, on Saturday, said that the judiciary should not "interfere" in the proceedings of house panels.

Their statement comes after several bureaucrats against whom the Assembly panels had initiated action recently got a stay from the Delhi High Court.

With the officers frequently approaching courts, Bharadwaj said that the Assembly would appoint its lawyers so that it has proper representation in court.

Addressing a press conference at the Chief Minister's Committee Room in Delhi Assembly, Petition Committee's Chairperson and AAP MLA from Greater Kailash Saurabh Bhardwaj said that the Assembly committees are fixing accountability of officers.

"When action is initiated against lax officers, they approach the high court and get a stay. Separation of powers of judiciary and legislature is clearly mentioned in the Constitution according to which the court cannot interfere in the Assembly committees' proceedings," Bharadwaj told reporters here.

He said, "According to our (Assembly) Speaker, judiciary and legislature should respect each other."

Privileges Committee's chairperson Madan Lal alleged that the officers "are running away from their responsibility".

As per an order issued by the Delhi High Court in August 4, the Lieutenant Governor is the administrative head of Delhi. Accordingly, land, law and order and other prominent services come directly under the purview of the LG.

This is one of the main reasons why many bureaucrats in the Delhi government often refuse to heed by the orders of Delhi Cabinet ministers

Recently, the Principal Secretary of Public Works Department Ashwani Kumar had approached the high court, which had stayed the "breach of privilege proceedings" initiated by the Privilege Committee of the Delhi Assembly.

Similarly, Delhi Chief Secretary M M Kutty had also got a stay from the court on a show-cause notice issued by an Assembly panel.