L-G office returns 47 files signed by CMO staff instead of CM Kejriwal

New Delhi: The Delhi Lieutenant Governor's office has returned 47 files signed by CMO staff instead of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, a move that is likely to intensify the tussle between the two constitutional authorities in the capital, sources said on Saturday.

The move came nearly a week after L-G VK Saxena wrote to Kejriwal, pointing out that the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) was forwarding files seeking opinion and approvals to the LG Secretariat without his signatures.

The files returned by the L-G Secretariat included those related to the education department and the Waqf Board among others, sources at the L-G office said.

They claimed that the CMO had continued to send files not signed by the chief minister despite the L-G raising the issue.

"Some of the files that have been returned back to the CMO were sent without the chief minister's signature even after L-G's letter while others were received earlier by L-G office," they said.

Saxena had flagged the issue in his letter to Delhi CM on August 22, stressing on the chief minister's signature on files sent by CMO for seeking his approvals and opinion, in the interest of smooth and effective governance, sources said.

The L-G had noted in his letter that files from CMO were being sent for his approval and opinion with notings like 'CM has seen and approved' and 'CM has seen' it', but not having his signatures.

"In the recent months, a significant number of proposals, as a matter of routine, has been submitted by the CMO for the L-G's approval or opinion through joint secretary or additional secretary, with the remarks 'Hon'ble CM has seen and approved the proposal' without specifying any grounds of urgency warranting such a communication," the L-G had said.

The L-G had also asked the chief minister to introduce the e-office system, implemented in most government offices, so as to enable seamless movements of files.