Raj Niwas, the Delhi Lieutenant-Governor’s office, on Saturday raised serious concerns over the handover of 6, Flagstaff Road in Civil Lines from former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to his successor Atishi, citing multiple violations of established norms and procedures.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Delhi Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) did not respond to the statement issued by Raj Niwas.
According to the statement, Mr. Kejriwal handed over the possession and keys of the residence to the Public Works Department (PWD) on October 9, which was then allotted to Ms. Atishi on October 11, a day after an inventory was carried out by the PWD. However, Raj Niwas pointed out that the former CM “bypassed” the formal procedure and handed over the bungalow’s keys directly to Ms. Atishi without involving the PWD, which is the owner of the property.
According to the statement, the PWD follows established norms and procedures for the allotment and vacation of government accommodation, which are also applicable to the Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers, Chief Justice, judges, and other dignitaries. “The former Chief Minister of Delhi, as indeed the current Chief Minister, who is also the Minister-in-charge of PWD, are fully aware of these norms, processes, and procedures, and violations thereto by them were prima facie deliberate,” it stated.
‘Devious, diabolic tactics’
The L-G’s office also highlighted the grandeur of the bungalow, which has a built-up area of 1,905 square metres for the residential complex and 500 square metres for the camp office. In comparison, the highest category of Type-8 bungalows — allotted to the Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers, and other dignitaries — has a built-up area of only 460 square metres, with an additional 100 square metres for other utilities.
Raj Niwas accused AAP and its leaders of resorting to “devious and diabolic” tactics to mislead the public and hide facts.
“Within a span of just about 48 hours, when the house was handed over by Mr. Kejriwal and allotted to Ms. Atishi, AAP, its Ministers, and even the Chief Minister resorted to the most devious and diabolic exercise of misleading the people of not only Delhi but also the entire country by way of subverting norms and procedures, hiding facts to this effect, and abusing the L-G incessantly,” it stated.
The L-G’s office stated that the keys were handed over by Mr. Kejriwal to Ms. Atishi through their personal staff as if it was their “private property being handed over by one owner to another”.
When the PWD “rightfully raised concerns about the violations incurred during this exercise”, AAP and its leaders realised they were on the back foot, the statement stated.
In response, they returned the keys and handed over possession to the PWD as per norms, while simultaneously engaging in a “shameful exercise of blaming the Lieutenant-Governor in the public domain”, Raj Niwas said.
It also pointed out that the building plan of 6, Flagstaff Road had not been sanctioned by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, making it a “patently illegal structure”.
The completion certificate has also not been issued till now as it requires the sanction of the building plan before commencement of construction, the statement stated.
‘Not worth responding to’
In response to the allegations, sources in the Chief Minister’s Office dismissed the statement from the L-G’s office as “sad” and filled with “abuses and allegations” against the elected government.
“The AAP government is busy working on a war footing to revive and fix all the works stopped by the L-G in the last few months. These comments by the L-G are really not worth responding to,” a source in the CMO said.
Published - October 13, 2024 01:37 am IST
