Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has been directed by Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena to remove Jasmine Shah from his post as vice-chairman of the Delhi Dialogue and Development Commission (DDDC) for exploiting his authority for political reasons. The L-G further sought that the CM prevent Jasmine Shah from “discharging his duties” as DDDC’s vice-chairman and from using any “privileges and facilities” related to his position with immediate effect until a “decision is taken by the CM” in this matter.
On Thursday, the Delhi government’s planning department issued an executive order, prompting the SDM, Civil Lines, to shut the DDDC’s office premises late Thursday night.
Delhi | Office of Vice Chairman of the Dialogue and Development Commission (DDC), Jasmine Shah sealed.
— ANI (@ANI) November 18, 2022
LG VK Saxena asked CM Kejriwal to remove Shah from the post of Vice Chairman of the Dialogue and Development Commission (DDC) for misusing his office for political purposes. pic.twitter.com/VkgSOHNMOH
Jasmine Shah holds a rank equivalent to a cabinet minister in the Delhi Government. Shah was given two chances to respond to the Director of the Planning Department’s show cause notice issued on October 17th, according to an official in LG’s office, but Shah chose not to submit his response.
Instead, he said the response had been forwarded to the Minister of the Planning department. On November 4, the LG office sent a letter to the CM office requesting to know Shah’s response, but the CM office has not yet answered the letter. LG subsequently asked for his dismissal and an end to any potential abuse of the DDC office. The DDDC is a division of the planning division. Shah’s workforce and staff have also been ordered to be dismissed, and the chamber of the VC has been locked to prevent him from entering.
The show-cause notice was issued after BJP MP Parvesh Sahib Singh filed a complaint with Delhi LG stating that Shah was exploiting his office for political purposes, such as attending political debates on television in favour of the AAP.
In a letter dated September 13, Singh requested the LG remove Shah from his role as DDC VC on the grounds that he is misusing the office by serving as the AAP’s mouthpiece. In addition, Singh claimed that Shah broke Rule 5 of the Central Civil Services (conduct) Rules, 1964 by appearing on Televised debates and serving as the AAP’s representative.
The Planning Department of the Delhi government, which is in charge of DDC, launched an investigation and came to the conclusion that Shah had been abusing his position and other benefits to advance an incredibly political agenda, specifically in violation of the established rules, after carefully examining various video footages of his appearances on TV shows, transcripts of press conferences at which he spoke, and news reports in newspapers and news portals.
