Probe orders are illegal: Manish Sisodia to Delhi Lt Governor on inquiry in power subsidy scheme
Manish Sisodia's remarks came just hours after Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena directed the Chief Secretary to investigate the 'irregularities and discrepancies' in the power subsidy provided by Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party government and report back in seven days.
FollowThe Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia, has accused the Lieutenant Governor of making 'politically motivated' decisions by ordering investigations into various issues one after the other.
Sisodia's remarks came just hours after Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena directed the Chief Secretary to investigate 'irregularities and discrepancies' in the power subsidy provided by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party government and report back in seven days.
Saxena ordered the new investigation about three months after allowing a CBI investigation into Delhi's liquor policy, in which Sisodia is an accused.
In a letter to the Lieutenant Governor, Sisodia wrote to Saxena of bypassing Delhi's elected government by ordering 'illegal and unconstitutional' investigations.
"You have no right to issue orders in any matter other than land, police, public order, and services," Sisodia wrote in the letter.
"All of your orders are politically motivated. So far, nothing has come out of any of the investigations. I request that you act in accordance with the Constitution," the AAP leader stated.
In a swipe at the investigation into the AAP's power subsidy scheme, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the latest probe order was a Bharatiya Janata Party move against the AAP's expansion.
"Gujarat appreciates AAP's free electricity guarantee," Kejriwal tweeted. "That is why the BJP wants to end free electricity in Delhi," he explained.
Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state and where the BJP has ruled for over two decades, will hold elections later this year. After Delhi and Punjab, the AAP intends to make it its third base.
The alleged power subsidy scam in Delhi is linked to payments made by the state government to companies that supply electricity to the city.
Delhi has 58 lakh domestic power consumers, 47 lakh of whom receive subsidies, including 30 lakh who receive no bills as consumption of fewer than 200 units is free. Around 17 lakh people receive a 50 per cent subsidy for up to 400 units of consumption. The government compensates the businesses for this.
In July, the Delhi Lieutenant Governor ordered a CBI investigation into the now-withdrawn excise policy that had brought private players into the national capital's liquor trade.
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