Speaker refers sealing issue to special committee for probe
NEW DELHI: Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel on Tuesday referred issues related to the sealing drive and conversion charges to the Special Committee of the House and asked it to submit its report on the first day of the next session.
The speaker directed commissioners of all the three corporations to appear before the committee, headed by MLA from Palam, Bhavna Gaur, to examine the issue.
Following t he Speaker’s directions, the committee will convene its first meeting on Thursday to probe the sealing issue.
The Speaker’s ruling came a day after the Assembly witnessed high drama between Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislators and the opposition, which had led to four adjournments in a span of two hours on Monday.
“I am referring the matter of collection and utilisation of conversion charges and all other related issues for examination and report by the special committee on MCDS. I direct the commissioners and all other officers of MCDS to depose before the committee as and when desired by the committee and state the truth,” Goel said in his ruling on day two of the session.
In the discussion, the AAP MLAS said the municipal corporations had no information regarding how and where they spent Rs 1,000 crore collected as conversion charge over the past 12 years.
CENTRE SHOULD WAIVE CONVERSION CHARGE
Labour minister Gopal Rai said the BJP government at the centre should do away with conversion charges . He said the centre should form a committee to look into the issue of conversion charges.
Responding to leader of oppo- sition Vijender Gupta’s charges that the AAP government had “failed” to notify 351 roads where traders were living in fear of sealing, Rai said the civic bodies had already been asked to submit a detailed report on the issue by January 22.
“I want to assure the government will notify these 351 roads as soon as all three municipal bodies submit their responses. BJP is doing politics over sealing. The Centre should do away with conversion charges and settle the matter and give relief to city’s traders,” the labour minister said.
Urban development minister Satyendar Jain accused the BJP of “wrongdoing” and said it was troubling the traders through sealing drives. “The BJP is not concerned about traders. It only wants to extort money from traders through the ongoing sealing drive,” Jain said.
OPPOSITION CRITICISES AAP GOVT
Gupta on Tuesday said the AAP government had failed to notify 351 roads under the mixed land use and commercial category despite several communications by MCD officials to the government in this connection.
“There are several letters where civic bodies have reminded the government about the notification of 351 roads, but it is yet to be done. AAP believes in lie and rule policy,” the BJP leader said.
A decision to notify the roads has been pending since 2007. The Delhi government in 2006 has notified 2,550 roads as commercial or mixed land use but 351 roads were left and for which the government has been blaming MCDS citing “certain deficiencies” on the part of civic bodies.
MISHRA, SIRSA MARSHALED OUT
Rebel AAP MLA Kapil Mishra was on Tuesday marshalled out from the Delhi Assembly after he entered the well of the House, demanding a discussion on the election of businessman Sushil Gupta to the Rajya Sabha. Mishra alleged that the Upper House seat was “sold” to Gupta.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa was also marshalled out after he opposed Speaker Ram Niwas Goel’s decision to throw Mishra out of the Assembly and allegedly “obstructed” the staff taking the suspended AAP leader out of the House. The matter was referred to the Privileges Committee of the Assembly.
As the proceedings began, Mishra displayed a poster which had an image of the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) MP elect Sushil Gupta holding a snake with chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s face photoshopped on it. Goel ordered the marshals to take Mishra out of the house.
Sirsa allegedly “obstructed” the marshals, after which he too was marshaled out.
“I am forwarding the matter of Sirsa trying to obstruct the marshals to the Privileges Committee of the House,” Goyal said.