Removal of members from discom boards by Delhi LG illegal: Sisodia

NEW DELHI:Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Saturday dubbed the removal of the Kejriwal dispensation-appointed members from discom boards by Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena as ''unconstitutional and illegal''.

The LG has started a new trend of reversing decisions taken by the elected government of Delhi, Sisodia said at a press conference here. The deputy chief minister also rubbished the charges that the members appointed by the Arvind Kejriwal government provided benefits to the tune of Rs 8,000 crore to the private discoms.

The LG can get the alleged ''scam'' investigated by any central agency, he added. ''A new trend has been started by the LG as he reversed the Delhi Cabinet's four-year-old decision and removed the members appointed to the boards of the discoms. This way, he could now upturn the government's decisions taken even four-10 years back,'' Sisodia said.

The deputy chief minister, who also holds the charge of the Delhi power department, said Saxena's decision was ''unconstitutional, illegal and contrary to the established procedures''.

Sisodia also objected to the LG's decision to remove the members citing ''difference of opinion''. ''The 'difference of opinion' provision cannot be used like this. There is a procedure to do so and it can not be cited to frequently reverse the decisions taken by the government,'' he said.

Sisodia also alleged that the LG was not following the Constitution and the Supreme Court order which states that his power of taking independent decision was limited to three subjects – police, land and services.

Earlier, sources at the Delhi LG's office said 'government nominees', including AAP leader Jasmine Shah, appointed to the boards of power discoms in the national capital by the Arvind Kejriwal-led dispensation have been replaced with senior officials.

Besides Shah, a spokesperson of the AAP, those removed from the boards include Naveen Gupta, son of AAP MP N D Gupta, and other private persons appointed as 'government nominees' ''illegally'', they claimed.

The sources said the finance secretary, power secretary and the MD of Delhi Transco will now represent the city government on the boards of the BYPL, BRPL and the TPDDL.