Making all efforts to ensure audit of balance sheets in interest of transparency: DJB to HC

New Delhi: The Delhi Jal Board (DJB) Monday told the Delhi High Court that it was making every effort to ensure that all final statements and balance sheets are duly prepared and audited in the interest of transparency and compliance with the law.

The DJB, while responding to a plea seeking direction to Comptroller and Auditor General to audit the accounts of DJB whose financial audit has allegedly not been carried out for last six years, termed the petition to be "politically motivated" and said the allegations levelled are false, frivolous and vexatious.

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has also told the high court that there is no negligence on its part as accounts were not provided for auditing.

The CAG has said that it made "several correspondences" for seeking accounts for audit from DJB and the Delhi government but as accounts were not made available for audit, the audit could not be accomplished.

"On making available the accounts of DJB, the answering respondent undertakes to conclude the audit of Delhi Jal Board as expeditiously as possible," it said.

DJB and CAG were responding to the petition by Delhi BJP leader Harish Khurana, seeking direction to DJB to maintain proper accounts and other relevant records and prepare an annual statement of the profit and loss with proper balance sheets from 2015 onwards as prescribed under the law and to direct CAG to conduct an audit of the board.

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh listed the matter for further hearing on November 29.