Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday defended his government's move to set up a panel to investigate the alleged corruption at the Delhi and District Cricket Association. This was after Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung’s office had declared the probe unconstitutional and illegal earlier in the day. The Aam Aadmi Party leader said on Twitter that only a court order can prevent the inquiry commission from continuing its work.
The notice issued by Jung's office stated that the probe panel set up by Kejriwal and his government violates Article 239 and Article 239AA of the Constitution. According to these articles and other sections under the Constitution, the Delhi government does not have the jurisdiction to form a Commission of Inquiry. This power rests only with the Central government, or with other state governments. It does not apply to the Delhi government as Delhi is not a state, but a National Capital Territory, the notice said. It also called upon the Home Ministry to act on this violation, CNN-IBN reported.
Jung has maintained that Kejriwal’s actions were against the law, but the is the first time he has issued an official notification on the matter. He had reportedly written to the Centre about the issue last month.
Kejriwal and his government had formed a Commission of Inquiry to look into allegations of corruption at the DDCA. Kejriwal had claimed that malpractices worth hundreds of crores had taken place during Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s tenure as the DDCA president. Kejriwal and Jaitley have been sparring over the DDCA issue for weeks now, with Jaitley even filing a defamation suit against Kejriwal. The two only briefly set aside their differences and shared the dais at the Bengal Global Business Summit in Kolkata on Friday.
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