Raj Niwas officials accuse govt of misleading courts, Delhi Minister hits back

New Delhi: With announcements to reintroduce the Odd-Even scheme surfacing, the file proposing the policy was sent to Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena for approval, who in turn found that there was a discrepancy.

Sources from Raj Niwas mentioned that the decision to implement the scheme was not approved by Delhi Environment minister Gopal Rai. Although the Chief Minister’s Office had agreed to defer the decision with CM Arvind Kejriwal being out of town, the file presented in front of Saxena sought approval for the implementation of the scheme.

The Secretariat called it a “deliberate misrepresentation” since the Delhi government had allegedly announced the Odd-Even scheme in the media without an official decision from their side.

In a note to the CM Office, the L-G Secretariat said, “Notings of the Hon’ble Minister (Environment) at Para-163 and subsequently those by the CM on behalf of the Hon’ble Chief Minister at Para-164, clearly indicate that no decision whatsoever has been taken with regards to implementing the Odd-Even Scheme as envisaged. In light of these announcements to this effect in the Media amounts to misleading the people as also the Hon’ble Courts, who are closely monitoring the situation arising out of severe Air Pollution in the city.”

The proposal was initially sent by the Department to the Chief Minister, L-G and Rai for consideration and approval, where the Office of Minister of Environment requested a discussion. The CM office replied to the request saying that Kejriwal was not in Delhi but the proposals had been shown to him, informed sources from Raj Niwas. They added, “The file was finally sent to the L-G Secretariat on November 4, 2023, even as public announcements regarding the order for implementation of actions under Stage IV of GRAP had already been made in the Media and the order was issued on November 5, 2023 itself.”

However, Delhi Environment minister Gopal Rai said the decision to implement the odd-even scheme was taken on November 6 and the file the official was talking about was sent for L-G VK Saxena’s approval on November 4. He alleged that officers were “misleading” Saxena.