Can CAG reports be made public before being tabled in Assembly? Delhi High Court to examine

The Delhi High Court is set to consider whether the reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) can be made public before they are sent to the Legislative Assembly for discussion [Brij Mohan Vs. Union Of India & Ors] .The question has been raised in a public interest litigation (PIL) petition seeking directions to the Central government, Delhi's Lieutenant Governor (LG) and the CAG to publish the audit reports on their respective portals "so that public knows the state of finances in Delhi before casting votes".Pertinently, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has also been demanding holding of a special session of the Assembly in Delhi for tabling the CAG reports. before upcoming elections in the national capital..On January 14, the Bench of Justice Yashwant Varma and Justice Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar said in its order that the PIL petitioner's case appears to essentially flow from the right of disclosure of information and the right to know.The CAG took the stand that till the audit reports are tabled in the Legislative Assembly, it can neither be disclosed nor placed in public domain.Responding to the same, the Court said,“The Manual of Procedure would only regulate the laying of Reports and Accounts for the purposes of discussion and debate in the House. It may not, therefore and prima facie, detract from the over-arching right to information which is asserted by the writ petitioners.”.The Court will hear the matter again on January 24. "In order to enable learned counsel for the CAG to address submissions in the aforesaid light, let this writ petition be called again on 24.01.2025," it ordered..Senior Advocate Geeta Luthra, appearing for petitioner Brij Mohan, a retired civil servant, earlier submitted that suppressing the CAG reports violates the citizens' fundamental right to information under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.She relied on the Supreme Court's judgement in Association of Democratic Reforms and Another (Electoral Bond Scheme) v. Union of India and Others to state that the voters' right to information has been held to be integral to democratic participation. “The voters have a right to the disclosure of information which is essential for choosing the candidate for whom a vote should be cast,” the apex court held last year..However, the CAG argued that its constitutional obligation is essentially confined to forwarding the report to the LG and for further action being taken by the constitutional authorities thereafter.The Court said it would examine the argument on the next date of hearing."This, prima facie, would have to be examined and appreciated alongside the observations that appear in the decision of the Supreme Court in Association for Democratic Reforms, Article 151 and on a consideration of the duties of the CAG under the Constitution.".Senior Advocate Geeta Luthra with advocates Vidya Sagar, Prabhav Pachory, Rishabh Dahiya and Dennis Jacob appeared for Brij Mohan.Advocates Manisha Agrawal Narain, Amita Gupta and Vedansh Anand appeared for the Centre.Advocate Bani Dikshit appeared for the LG of Delhi. Senior Advocate Sudhir Nandrajog, Additional Standing Counsel Udit Malik, with advocates Sheenu Priya, Rima Rao, Palak Sharma and Atik Gill appeared for the Delhi government.[Read Order]