Issue of DDCD vice chairman's removal, sealing office pending before Prez: LG to HC

The matter related to the removal of DDCD vice chairman Jasmine Shah is pending before the President of India for a decision, Delhi's Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena informed the Delhi High Court on Tuesday and said it will be prudent for all parties to the case not to take any further action on the issue. He said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, despite being aware that the matter was now required to be decided by the President, issued an order on December 8 directing the Planning Department to immediately recall the order by which Shah, an AAP leader, was restrained from discharging his duties at the DDCD.

The submissions were made in a common preliminary counter affidavit filed by the LG, Director (Planning) of the Delhi government, Sub Divisional Magistrate (Civil Lines) in the high court in a pending petition of Shah, the vice chairman of the state's think-tank Dialogue and Development Commission of Delhi (DDCD), challenging the November 17 order restraining him from discharging his duties and sealing his office.

The matter came up before Justice Prathiba M Singh who listed it for further hearing on January 9, 2023.

"It is submitted that the matter is presently under consideration by the President of India in accordance with the procedure enshrined under Article 239AA of the Constitution and until the president of India returns a decision upon the matter, it would be prudent for all the parties before this court to take no further action in the matter," the affidavit said.

It said while the matter stood referred to the President, the Chief Minister of Delhi, by way of the December 8 order, proceeded to summarily decide it on merits despite being aware that the issue was now required to be decided by Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The affidavit was filed pursuant to the high court's November 28 direction asking the parties to file their response to Shah's petition.

Shah has challenged the November 17 order issued by Director (Planning), Delhi government, on the LG's request to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to remove him from the post of vice chairperson of the DDCD, and pending such a decision, to restrain him from using his office space and withdraw the staff and facilities assigned to him.

In his petition, Shah has submitted that the orders passed against him are a "gross abuse of power and process". He has said the order was ''wholly without any merit, an instance of colourable exercise of authority, illegal, ex facie malafide and patently lacking in jurisdiction''.

He has also assailed the order for locking his office and withdrawing all facilities as well as privileges.

The DDCD offices were sealed on the night of November 17 for preventing its alleged ''misuse by Shah for political gains''. The sealing exercise was undertaken by the Planning Department of the Delhi government.

In his petition before the high court, Shah has said in the absence of any directions from the Delhi cabinet and the chief minister -- the competent authorities, the orders passed against him "suffer from a patent want of jurisdiction". He also said there was no allegation of misuse of public funds or corruption in the complaint against him and the only grievance was that he expressed his political view on certain television debates.

"The sole object and purpose of the impugned orders is to victimise the petitioner for expressing his political views in television debates which were not to the liking of the complainant, Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma, Member of Parliament of the BJP from West Delhi, and respondent No.3 (LG) who acted on a complaint made by the former with alacrity, in a pre-meditated manner," the petition said.

It asserted the vice chairperson of DDCD is appointed only to advise the government about public policy reform as an honorary member and cannot be regarded as a part of the permanent Executive/civil service/ bureaucracy of the State and the conditions of service do not prohibit him from associating with any political party or espousing political opinions. "The petitioner's appearance on television debates is within the lawful exercise of his fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression," the plea said, while also clarifying that Shah is not a spokesperson for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

"The petitioner who has stellar academic credentials and extensive national experience in the area of public policy reform has not misused/abused the office of Vice Chairperson, DDCD in any manner whatsoever and the allegations levelled by the complainant and findings returned in the impugned order are entirely baseless and misconceived," the petition said. Shah was behind the Delhi government's ambitious electric vehicle policy. At DDCD he was involved in drawing blueprints of various initiatives of the city government, including its food truck policy, electronic city, and shopping festival, among others.

The DDCD vice chairperson enjoys the rank of a Cabinet minister and is entitled to perks and privileges of a Delhi government minister like official accommodation, office, vehicle and personal staff.