The Aam Aadmi Party and the Lieutenant Governor’s Office headed for yet another showdown this week with the latter removing AAP spokesperson Jasmine Shah and Naveen Gupta, son of AAP MP ND Gupta as government nominees on the board of a private discom.
Shah and Gupta were replaced by government officials on the board with the L-G office saying they were removed because they had “collaborated with private representatives on boards of Anil Ambani-owned discoms and benefitted them to the tune of Rs 8,000 crore at the cost of the public exchequer”.
The Finance Secretary, Power Secretary and MD of Delhi Transco will now represent the government on these Ambani and Tata-owned discoms, as per the regular practice followed since Sheila Dikshit’s tenure as CM when these discoms came into existence.
Sources say what irked the L-G most is the loss to the exchequer. News18 has accessed a copy of the removal order, which clearly invokes “difference of opinion” under Article 239AA of the Constitution of India, after the Arvind Kejriwal government persisted on the continuance of Shah and Gupta on these boards, “despite proven misconduct and maleficence on their part, by way of benefiting the Ambani-owned discoms to the tune of more than Rs 8,000 crore, at the cost of the exchequer.”
The matter, in fact, was referred to the President of India by L-G Saxena for a decision. He had asked for the removal of the political appointees on the discom boards with immediate effect, pending the President’s decision, and asked for senior government officials to replace them.
The note further states that the Delhi government, which owns 49% stake in the private discoms, used to nominate senior government officials so that the interests of the government and people of Delhi could be taken care of, in decisions taken by the discom boards.
“However, these AAP nominees on the discoms, in a quid pro quo arrangement involving commissions and kickbacks, instead of acting vigilant in interest of the people and Govt of Delhi, acted in cahoots with the BRPL and BYPL boards, facilitated a decision by their boards to decrease the LPSC rates from 18% to 12%, and in the process unduly benefitted them to the tune of Rs 8,468 crore, an amount that would have gone to the Delhi Govt exchequer,” it added.
Hitting back at the L-G’s office, AAP’s Somnath Bharti told News18: “This is a political witch-hunt and misuse of the L-G’s office.”
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