Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday alleged that Lt Governor V.K. Saxena and the chief secretary have created a situation wherein many people accused of committing serious crimes against the state might go scot free.
Stating that the Chief Secretary has started sending files directly to L-G bypassing the Minister in-charge, Sisodia sought a list of cases in which his approval was not taken from the Minister by 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
"Hon'ble L-G and the Chief Secretary, in their over-enthusiasm to bypass elected government on every matter, have created a situation wherein many people accused of committing serious crimes against the state might go scot free", he said.
Underlining Section 196 of IPC, the Dy CM said that in the case of crime committed against the state, no court shall take cognizance of any such case without the approval/sanction of the state government.
Many serious crimes fall under this category. "According to the Law Department of Delhi Government, state government in this law means elected government. This means that the Minister-in-charge is the competent authority and the minister's approval was supposed to be taken in all these cases.
After taking the Minister's approval, the file would be sent to Hon'ble LG to decide whether he differed from the decision of the Minister and whether he would like to refer it to the President of India", Sisodia said.
He said that the procedure was being followed till a few months back. However, in the last few months, the Chief Secretary started sending all these files directly to the L-G bypassing the Minister.
"Hon'ble L-G also gave approvals in all these cases, though he is not the approving authority. Therefore, in all such criminal cases in the last few months, sanctions given for prosecution are invalid.
When the accused will raise this point in the courts, they will be released", Sisodia said. The Deputy CM, who is the Minister-in-charge, has directed the Chief Secretary to place a list of all such cases before him by 5 pm on Wednesday in which approval was not taken from the Minister.
The Chief Secretary and the L-G have created a peculiar situation for the government of Delhi, he added.