Speaker summons officials for not answering queries
NEW DELHI: Delhi Assembly speaker Ram Niwas Goel on Wednesday summoned the principal secretaries of revenue, education and power for not answering to queries posed by MLAS .
The officials have been asked to appear in the House on Thursday when the questions will be asked again.
Upset with secretaries for not responding to the questions, Goel forwarded the issue of around eight assembly questions to the Question and Reference Committee of the House for action.
Goel said not providing answers to questions asked by the legislators was an insult of the House. Saurabh Bharadwaj, AAP’S spokesperson said, “If it is proven it is a contempt of the House, there may be punitive action. It could even be a jail term.”
One of the unanswered ques- tion included Bharadwaj’s query related to the alleged “multicrore scam” in the revenue department. Blaming L-G Anil Baijal for the officers’ behaviour, Goel said: “This situation reminds me of British Raj. Not only the House, this is also an insult to democracy...,” Goel said.
On Wednesday, Goel adjourned House proceedings for 15 minutes after some AAP legislators entered the well to protest over the officers not providing answers to questions on “reserved subjects” — law and order, services, and land — that are in L-G domain.
Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia informed the assembly that the education department had allegedly not provided answers to a question on number of vacant posts, citing it falls under the ‘reserved subject’.