DCW chief appointment file not in order: Jung to Kejriwal

Chiding Chief Minister (CM)  Arvind Kejriwal for making “inappropriate references” to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Delhi Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Najeeb Jung has, in a letter to the CM, claimed that the file on the appointment of Swati Maliwal as chief of the Delhi Commission for Women has not been put up appropriately and therefore cannot be approved. The L-G’s refusal to give his nod for the appointment had raised eyebrows, especially when he had stated: “I am the government.” Alleging that his comments had been “misunderstood”, Jung says: “Delhi, being not a state, is a Union Territory, and the L-G is a representative of the President of India and indeed the government of India.”

“I do not recall any matter of policy or decision taken by you where I have not agreed to your proposal,” writes Jung. He had always acted on the advice of the CM and his Cabinet on all non-reserved subjects, according to the letter.

Highlighting the “massive mandate” that the AAP government keeps harping about, the L-G writes, “You and I should not look back at this moment when you have won such a massive mandate, and see it as a wasted opportunity.”

Jung and the Delhi government have been on war path ever since the Aam Aadmi Party took office in February this year.  Recollecting the previous instances of collision, the L-G states that on all those occasions again “you have been issuing notifications that have not been put up to me for approval”.

Drawing attention to the present impasse over appointment of the DCW chief, the L-G writes that procedures have not be in order. Like in the previous instances, “to avoid legal complications and to safeguard government’s interests” he had refused to sign such files.

He also took the opportunity to claim that contrary to Kejriwal’s repeated complaint that he doesn’t even have the power to transfer or post a peon, the L-G says he has approved all his requests for appointments of DANICs officers.

Jung reiterated that as L-G he was committed to “give you full cooperation to ensure the success of our government and to enable you to fulfil the promises the government has made to the people of Delhi".