Delhi: The Delhi Assembly on Thursday passed a resolution not to take action on the pending cases referred to the Committee on Privileges, the Committee on Petitions, and the Committee on Questions and References during the Sixth and Seventh Legislative Assemblies, and that they be considered as disposed off.
Chief Whip Abhay Verma had given a notice for the resolution. It was moved stating, “Whereas in its meeting held on December 4, 2024, the Seventh Legislative Assembly passed three resolutions that the pending works of the Committee on Privileges, the Committee on Petitions, and the Committee on Questions and References be examined by the respective committees of the Eighth Legislative Assembly under Rule 183.
Verma said the provision under Rule 183 is rarely invoked and only in exceptional cases where a committee is unable to complete its work before the dissolution of the House.
Regarding the consideration of incomplete work of the Committees of the Sixth and Seventh Legislative Assemblies, speaker Vijender Gupta said in its meeting held on December 04, 2024, the Seventh Legislative Assembly passed three resolutions to the effect that the incomplete work of the Committee on Privileges, the Committee on Petitions, and the Committee on Questions and References be examined by the respective Committees of the Eighth Legislative Assembly under Rule 183.
He said he had reviewed all the pending cases and arrived at the conclusion that these cases should not have been forwarded.
Gupta expressed that the Committees of the Eighth assembly should start with a clean slate and not get entangled in cases that appear to be motivated.
He said it must consider whether it befits the legislature or its committees to keep officers, some of whom have now retired, under stress.
He had requested the House to consider whether these cases should be carried forward or dropped.
According to the speaker, the Committee on Privileges had 59 cases pending from the Sixth Legislative Assembly and 69 cases from the Seventh Legislative Assembly.
He further said that as per Rule 223, the Committee on Privileges is generally required to submit its report within one month. Most of the complaints were filed by members of the then ruling party against officers of the Delhi Government, and ideally if these were genuine, the same should have been investigated and reported to the House.
However, the reasons for which they were kept pending by the then members of the committees are best known to them, Gupta added.
Similarly, the Committee on Petitions had 107 cases pending from the Sixth Legislative Assembly and 72 cases from the Seventh Legislative Assembly. The Committee on Questions and References also has 04 cases pending from the Seventh Legislative Assembly, speaker informed.
He said there was an attempt to target officers of the Delhi government in these committees as well, while some cases have been pending since 2016, and no meetings were held to probe them.
Some officers sought protection from the courts, and 08 of these cases are now before the Delhi High Court, the speaker added.
