According to an order from Raj Niwas, Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena has disbanded the standing committee established by the AAP government. The move was purportedly aimed at ensuring the quality of investigations and prosecutions in criminal cases. The order states that this action was taken as it was deemed to be in "gross violation" of the 2014 Supreme Court directions.

"Delhi LG VK Saxena has dissolved the existing Standing Committee constituted by the AAP Government for ensuring the quality of investigation in criminal cases and their prosecution, noting that it was in gross violation of the 2014 Supreme Court directions and subsequent guidelines of the Centre," an official from the LG office said in a note shared with media on Monday.

While scrapping the existing panel headed by standing counsel (criminal), Delhi High Court (HC), and additional standing counsel as member, the LG approved the proposal for its reconstitution with additional chief secretary/principal secretary (Home) as chairman and principal secretary (Law), director (prosecution) and special commissioner of police, as members, as per a communiqué issued by his office.

Saxena emphasized that there was no valid reason for the committee's ongoing existence. He said that in his note on May 11, 2017, his predecessor, Anil Baijal, had directed a review of the constitution of the committee to bring it in conformity with the order of the Supreme Court and reminders were also issued by the LG Secretariat on February 19, 2018, June 22, 2018, October 18, 2018, and May 31, 2019.

However, no proposal for the reconstitution of the committee was submitted.

After the enactment of the GNCTD Amendment Act 2023, the Additional Chief Secretary (Home) proposed the reconstitution of the standing committee with an Additional Chief Secretary (Home) as Chairman, Principal Secretary (Law), Director (Directorate of Prosecution) and Special CP as members.

“The lackadaisical approach of the ruling dispensation, in this case, seems to be an attempt to control the service matters of Police and Prosecution Officers, which is not in their executive domain and it is a settled principle of law that the thing which cannot be done directly, shall not be done indirectly in a clandestine manner,” Saxena was quoted as saying by his office.Top of Form

The LG observed that the current panel is led by the Standing Counsel (Criminal) with an additional standing counsel as a member, both of whom are involved in the prosecution and responsible for presenting cases in court. Consequently, their involvement in the committee was seen as an effort to undermine the directions and guidelines set forth by the Supreme Court and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) of the Government of India.

In compliance with the SC directions of January 7, 2014, with a view to reduce the number of acquittals in criminal cases the MHA on March 24, 2014, issued an advisory on monitoring of investigation to ensure Investigating Officers as well as Prosecuting Officers discharge their duties, the statement said.

One key recommendation from the Ministry was that the Home Department should establish a standing committee comprised of senior officers from the police and prosecution directorate. This committee would be tasked with analyzing cases to identify any mistakes made during the investigation or prosecution processes or both, according to the statement.

The committee's findings would then be forwarded to the Commissioner of Police and the Director of Prosecution. Subsequently, appropriate departmental actions, in accordance with the rules, would be taken against all investigative or prosecuting officials found responsible for failures in prosecution due to negligence or culpable lapses.

Following the mentioned advisory, the Home Department initially formed a standing committee, appointing the Director of Prosecution as the chairman. However, in a blatant disregard for the directives of the Apex court and the advisory from the Centre, a reconstitution of the panel took place on October 15, 2015. This reconstitution, sanctioned by the Minister (Home), saw the appointment of the senior standing counsel (Criminal) as the new chairman, as outlined in the communiqué.

The proposal for reconstitution of the panel was also not placed before the then LG for his opinion as “services” and “police” were outside the purview of the AAP Government at that point of time, it said.

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