The Delhi Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee deferred its plan to inspect former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s earlier 6, Flagstaff Road residence today after its chairman alleged that confidential proceedings of the panel had been leaked and given a “political colour”.
The panel was scheduled to inspect the property at 3 pm as part of its examination of issues raised by the Comptroller and Auditor General or CAG over construction and expenditure at the former Chief Minister’s residence. Mahawar said the committee had been examining around 18 records and documents and some information was shared confidentially with members to verify facts.
Ajay Mahawar, the BJP MLA who heads the panel, said the matter will be taken up with Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta over “breach of privilege”.
He also alleged that details of the proceedings were later made public and circulated on social media. “The PAC does not work for any political party. The committee is examining questions raised by the CAG, including the increase in the construction area from around 1,397 square metres to nearly 1,905 square metres. This, he said, involved an additional financial impact of around Rs 18.88 crore. Another issue concerns a staff block for which around Rs 9.87 crore was paid but which, according to the CAG observations cited by Mahawar, was not constructed as originally envisaged.
It is accountable to the Delhi Legislative Assembly,” Mahawar said. She said AAP had welcomed the proposed inspection as it believed it would expose what the party described as the BJP’s “lies” about the property.
