Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena Archives - Lokmarg

Arvind and VK saxena meeting for DERC Chairperson

Kejriwal, LG To Hold Meeting Over Appointment Of DERC Chairperson Today

By LokMarg 19th July 2023

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena are scheduled to sit together in a meeting to decide on the name of the Chairperson of Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) on Wednesday.

The meeting will take place in LG Secretariat at 4 pm.
This comes after Supreme Court on Monday asked LG Saxena and CM Kejriwal to “rise above political bickering” and sit together and decide on the name of the DERC chairperson.

A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and Manoj Misra said they both are constitutional functionaries and they have to rise above political bickering.

It asked, “Does everything run through modalities of the Supreme Court? They both are constitutional functionaries. Can’t the LG and Chief Minister sit and come with a name on which both agree.”

“So much of the work of government happens away from the public eye. We are not so much concerned about the DERC Chairperson appointment which will be done. We are on the larger issue. You both can sit together and sort out some issues,” it said while posting the matter of the DERC Chairperson’s appointment for a hearing on Thursday.

During the hearing, CJI said that there are many ways, one way is that one functionary gives a list of three names and the other functionary accepts one name. “We don’t want to step into this. We want you both to sit down and do this,” the bench added.

The top court was hearing a petition filed by the Delhi government relating to the appointment of Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) Chairperson.

The apex court on July 4 had ordered to defer the oath-taking ceremony of the appointment of Justice (retired) Umesh Kumar as the chairperson of Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) till July 11.

The Delhi government moved the Supreme Court challenging the appointment of former Allahabad High Court judge Justice Umesh Kumar as DERC chairperson on the ground that it was unilaterally made by the Lieutenant Governor without its concurrence.

The bench had noted that the petition raises a point of law regarding the validity of Section 45D of the GNCTD Act, as amended by the latest Ordinance issued by the Centre, which gives overriding powers to the Lieutenant Governor over the elected government in the matter of appointments.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the Delhi government, had sought stay of the notification appointing Justice Kumar.

Unilateral action by the LG is against the Supreme Court’s five-judge Constitution bench judgment and also the spirit of Article 239AA of the Constitution, he had said.

Delhi power minsiter Atishi alleged that the recruitment was done by “overlooking” the aid and advice of the elected government, therefore, violating the constitution by appointing someone else for that position.

She had said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on June 21 had recommended Justice (retd.) Sangeet Lodha for the post, however, the same was “wilfully ignored” by the President.

Earlier, Kejriwal approved Justice (retd.) Rajeev Shrivastava for the DERC chairman, and the file was put up by former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who also held the power portfolio. However, the file was returned by Lieutenant Governor Vinai Saxena with a recommendation to also consult with Delhi High Court Chief Justice for the appointment.

Later, the Delhi government approached the Supreme Court on April 12, blaming the LG for delaying the appointment.

On May 19, the top court observed that the LG is not supposed to act on his own discretion on such appointments, and directed the government to appoint the DERC chairperson within two weeks.

However, Justice Shrivastava later ‘expressed his inability to accept the appointment’ due to ‘family commitments and requirements’.

The bench had said while appointing a sitting or a retired judge to the post of a state electricity regulatory commission, the Chief Justice of the High Court, to which the judge concerned belonged, has to be consulted.

Chief Justice of the High Court, under whose jurisdiction the electricity regulatory panel falls, need not be consulted for the appointment if the judge concerned has not served in that High Court, it had added.

The apex court while referring to a 2018 Constitution bench judgement and its judgement on the services row between the Centre and the Delhi government, the bench said it has been made clear that the “LG has to act on the aid and advice of the council of ministers.”

Delhi government had filed a plea in the top court alleging inaction by Lieutenant Governor in appointing the Chairperson of DERC.

The DERC has been functioning without a Chairperson for the last four months after previous Chairperson Justice (Retd) Shabihul Hasnain demitted office on January 9, 2023 upon attaining the age of 65 years. (ANI)

Day After ‘Teamwork’ Pledge By CM, L-G, AAP Alleges Conspiracy Behind Delhi Flooding

By LokMarg 15th July 2023

The blame game over the Yamuna flooding in the national capital took centrestage, a day after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena issued a joint statement stressing ‘teamwork’, with Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Saturday alleging that the BJP-ruled Centre and the Haryana government had conspired to throw the national capital into a flood crisis.

Coming down heavily at the BJP at a press conference on Saturday, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said, “Delhi received 153 mm of rainfall on July 8, which was a record in two decades. It rained moderately in the evening on July 9, but thereafter, the city exprienced no further rainfall. So, the big question is — if there was not a drop of rain in Delhi since July 9, how did the national capital come to be flooded like this?”
“The answer, as is now evident, is that the BJP-led central government and the Haryana government, where too, the BJP is ruling party, conspired to push Delhi into a flood crisis,” Bharadwaj claimed.

The remark appeared to be in conflict with the show of unity by the L-G and the Delhi CM at the joint press conference on Friday, with the former saying, “We need to work as a team”.

“This is not the time to resort to a blame game or point fingers at each other. Right now, we need to work as a team. I, too, can say a lot of things but this is not what we should do at this time,” the L-G added.

CM Kejriwal said people, who have been grappling with flooding woes over the last couple of days, will get a measure of respite soon, as the rising waters of the Yamuna was receding slowly but surely.

“…water flooded different areas due to many reasons. Here, the flooding took place because of a breach (of drain regulator) while at Raj Ghat, it was a caused due to backflow of water from a drain. Several other places were flooded due to the backflow of the Yamuna waters. However, the people will get some respite soon as the Yamuna waters have started receding,” the CM said.

However, at the press conference on Saturday, Bharadwaj said, “The danger mark of the Yamuna is at 205.33 metres. Till yesterday, it was flowing at 208.6 metres. As is recorded in history, Delhi witnessed a catastrophic flood in July 1998, when the Yamuna flowed at 207.49 metres. The level currently is even higher. The reason for the prevailing situation in the Capital is that the regulator of the Hathni Kund barrage is based in Haryana’s Yamunanagar, which is located 228 kms away from Delhi.”

“We sent our team over there as we learned that water was being released deliberately towards Delhi,” Bharadwaj added.

Further, hitting out at the BJP, he said, “From July 9 to 13, water was deliberately released towards Delhi as part of a conspiracy. The report of the Central Water Commission, dated July 12 and 13, that we received from the Hathni Kund Barrage, says that the water was not released into the eastern cannal, towards Uttar Pradesh.”

“Last year, in August, water was not only released towards Delhi but the eastern and western canals as well. The flow was evenly distributed between multiple states because of which there was no flood in Delhi,” he added.

The AAP minister said, “False statements are being made that water cannot be release into the eastern canal as it is very small. Now, after the AAP highlighted this issue in the media, the water is now being released into the eastern canal as well.”

Earlier, Union Minister Nityanand Rai, while stressing the need for all stakeholders to set aside their differences and come together in the interest of putting Delhi out of its misery, said, “They (AAP) are resorting to the politics of lies. It is what the party was founded on. It is in their culture.” (ANI)

Delhi LG Seeks Removal Of AAP Nominees From Anil Ambani’s DISCOMs Board

By LokMarg 13th January 2023

Alleging “total violation of Constitutional provisions” by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in illegal appointment of private individuals as government nominees on the Board of Anil Ambani-owned DISCOMs BRPL (BSES Rajdhani Power Limited) and BYPL (BSES Yamuna Power Limited), Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena on Friday asked for the removal of these nominees and replace them with Senior Government Officers, as had been the practice in the past.

These nominees include AAP Spokesperson Jasmine Shah, Naveen ND Gupta (son of AAP MP, ND Gupta), Umesh Tyagi and JS Deswal.
According to the Raj Niwas statement, their nomination to the Boards of the DISCOMs was patently illegal since the due process of law was not followed and their appointment was void ab initio. The LG has taken these decisions on the basis of an inquiry report submitted by the Delhi Power Department and the Chief Secretary in light of a complaint dated September 26, 2022.

These compromised nominees provided undue financial benefits running into thousands of crores to Ambani’s DISCOMs, at the cost of the state exchequer and Delhi government-run undertakings (DTL, IPGCL and PPCL). LG has asked for Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to be informed about this and action be taken.

It has been brought out in the report that, these private individuals were illegally appointed surreptitiously by the AAP government as ‘government nominees’ on the Board of BRPL and BYPL in 2019, despite written objections on file by the then LG, Najeeb Jung on November 1, 2016 and LG, Anil Baijal on August 11, 2017.

In 2017, CM Kejriwal had sent a file proposing their appointment as government nominees, disposing of which Baijal had directed that a Cabinet Decision in this regard be taken and sent to him so that, he could invoke difference of opinion as per clause 4 of Article 239AA of the Constitution of India. However, the Cabinet took a decision to appoint them and instead of sending the file to LG, Baijal, who would have invoked the said clause, surreptitiously notified the appointment of these private individuals as government nominees on the Board of the DISCOMs.

Once appointed these government nominees rather than taking care of the government interests, in cahoots with the Anil Ambani nominees on the Board, facilitated a decision of the DISCOMs Boards of unilaterally lowering interest rates charged on LPSC (that these DISCOMs owed to DTL/PPCL/IGPCL), from 15-18 per cent to 12 per cent, thereby causing a loss of Rs 8683.67 crore, said the statement.

It may be noted that the Delhi government has 49 per cent shares in these private DISCOMs and as per Article VI of the shareholder’s agreement, the government nominees on its Boards have the veto right to block any inappropriate proposal that is detrimental to the state finances.

However, these private nominees instead of protecting the interests of GNCTD, acted in collusion with the private companies to serve the financial interests of DISCOMs. The LG has also asked the Directorate of Vigilance to investigate the omission/commission noted on part of these private individuals acting as government nominees, from the angle of any possible quid pro quo.

Not only this, but to circumvent any adverse impact, they facilitated the deferring of the Annual General Meeting (AGM) that was scheduled to take place on September 27, 2022, where the issue of unilateral reduction of LPSC would have been discussed by absenting themselves. They did so by absenting themselves and letting BRPL and BYPL, take the false ground of ‘lack of quorum’ in deferring the AGM.

In addition to this, in conspiratorial collusion with the other Ambani-nominated members of the BRPL and BYPL Board, these 04 government nominees passed a resolution on September 18, 2022, for granting extension for holding the AGMs, thereby providing an opportunity to BRPL & BYPL to obtain a status quo order from the Supreme Court on September 28, 2022, just a day before the scheduled AGM on September 29.

The LG in his order has also directed the Power Department to take immediate and concerted efforts to get the status quo order of the Supreme Court vacated at the earliest and undertake any other legal action as deemed fit under applicable laws to ensure recovery of outstanding dues from the DISCOMs.

The report submitted by the Power Department and the Chief Secretary has inter alia, also brought out that the AAP government in Delhi instead of recovering its outstanding dues of Rs 21,250 crore on account of default in payment for power purchased by defaulting vendor DISCOMs (BRPL and BYPL) from State-owned Power Generation Companies, and debarring it from further business in Delhi, got into a cozy deal with the BRPL and BYPL by way of agreeing to let them settle their outstanding dues against future payments to be made to them by the government in shape of subsidy reimbursements for supposedly free power that they provided to the consumers. This amounted to a sum of Rs 11,550 crore being settled as reimbursements, said the Raj Niwas statement.

Referring to the report, the Raj Niwas said AAP government violated its own Cabinet decision of 2015-16, which entailed that an Audit of BRPL and BYPL be conducted every year for electricity subsidies paid to them by the Delhi Government and allowed for no Audit to be done even as payments amounting to Rs 11,500 crore kept getting settled in favour of BRPL and BYPL.

It further alleged that the AAP government blocked the implementation of DBT in the disbursal of power subsidy to the people in contravention of DERC order of 2018, with the sole aim of concealing the actual number of subsidy beneficiaries and thereby paying unverified amounts to these DISCOMs, paving the way for kick-backs and commissions. (ANI)