Lt Governor Najeeb Jung strikes conciliatory note after DCW row with Arvind Kejriwal

NEW DELHI: The turf war between Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung is now an open letter war.

The LG on Friday asked Kejriwal to reissue notification concerning the appointment of new members of the Delhi Commission for Women, including its chairperson Swati Maliwal, as “the file has not been processed properly” in response to the CM’s open letter to him on the previous day.

In his letter to the chief minister, sent to media, Jung said it is necessary to reissue Maliwal’s appointment notification because the related file sent by Kejriwal has a controversial claim about who has authority as “government” for appointment.

“I find that the file has not been processed properly and it still contains notifications under which chairperson/members of Delhi Commission for Women were appointed under your orders after the note of the hon’ble minister of social welfare & women and child development wherein he mentions that he is the appropriate authority to take the decision as “government”,” the LG said.

“This needs to be rectified since it would not hold good in law and a fresh, revised notification needs to be prepared and submitted to this office at the earliest to enable me to confirm the appointments of chairperson/members of Delhi Commission for Women.”

Jung also denied allegations that the office of Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) had been locked or its files taken away.

“The DCW is a quasi-judicial body and any infirmity in appointment of the chairperson and members could nullify actions taken by them and leave us all in an embarrassing situation. The instructions issued to the office of the DCW are endorsed in the same letter of my office that was sent to your office,” he said in the letter.

Jung also criticised Kejriwal’s letter on Thursday despite its excessively pleading tone, citing concerns of “national honour and pride”.