The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed a petition by seven Bharatiya Janata Party legislators seeking a direction to the Assembly speaker to table fourteen Comptroller and Auditor General reports before the elections next month, reported The Hindu.

Justice Sachin Datta, while refusing to summon a special session, criticised the Delhi government for the “inordinate delay” in fulfilling its constitutional obligation and noted that the CAG reports should have been “promptly placed before the Assembly”.

The court said the government’s delay raised “doubts about its bonafides.”

The petition, filed by BJP legislators Vijender Gupta, Mohan Singh Bisht, Om Prakash Sharma, Ajay Kumar Mahawar, Abhay Verma, Anil Bajpai and Jitendra Mahajan, argued that the reports covered “critical issues including State finances, pollution mitigation, liquor regulation, public sector appropriation accounts, and a performance audit on children in need of care and protection”, reported The Indian Express.

The petitioners claimed the delay violated provisions of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act and the Comptroller and Auditor General Act.

The court ruled that judicial intervention could not extend to procedural aspects, such as the timing of convening Assembly sessions. Justice Datta emphasised that summoning the Assembly was the prerogative of the speaker, citing Supreme Court precedents.

In its defence, the Assembly Secretariat stated that the tenure of the current Assembly was nearing its end, with elections scheduled for February 5 and votes to be counted on February 8. The speaker’s counsel argued that it would be “impracticable” to hold a special session as the CAG reports would need scrutiny by the Public Accounts Committee after being tabled.

Justice Datta directed: “Once the Legislative Assembly is constituted and summoned pursuant to upcoming elections, requisite steps shall be taken by the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, inter-alia under Rule twenty-four, twenty-seven and two hundred and eighty-nine of the Rules of Procedure, for the purpose of laying the Comptroller and Auditor General Reports, as expeditiously as possible.”

The court also observed that the Delhi government’s “disdainful disregard” for its constitutional obligations and failure to “act with alacrity” in tabling the reports had delayed necessary legislative scrutiny.