Delhi Assembly panel row: Speaker warns disruptive MLAs can be removed, AAP's Atishi calls it undemocratic
The ongoing controversy over the powers of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Delhi Assembly took a turn on Tuesday, after Speaker and BJP leader Vijender Gupta said MLAs who create 'chaos' during meetings can be asked to withdraw or be removed.
Gupta's statement came after AAP's Leader of Opposition Atishi raised questions on the panel's powers after the 2021 amendment to the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) Act, which placed curbs on the powers of Assembly committees, and demanded that an opinion on the power of the committee be sought from the Law Department.
The PAC examines the expenditure of government departments and the CAG reports.
Responding to a letter from PAC chairman and BJP MLA Ajay Mahawar, which alleged that AAP MLAs on the committee – Atishi, Kuldeep Kumar and Virender Singh – had disrupted committee meetings, Gupta said they can be removed from meetings.
Atishi first raised the issue with the Speaker on May 6. In response, Gupta said that while committees must function within the boundaries of law, they still retain sufficient authority under the Constitution and Rules, including the power to examine CAG reports.
On Wednesday, Atishi demanded that the Speaker ask the Centre to withdraw the amendments made to the GNCTD Act in 2021.
'That's the first step if you're serious about empowering Delhi Assembly's committees. Why is the Speaker refusing to even raise that demand? If there are no curbs on Committees in this context, why are you afraid of sending it to the Law Department for an opinion? It's not the Speaker's job to interpret the law — it's the Law Department's,' she said.
On Gupta's letter allowing Mahawar to remove members from Committee meetings, Atishi said, 'We are being told that if we raise these questions in a committee, we'll be thrown out of the meeting. This has never happened in the democratic history of our country.'
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