Kapil Mishra files plea in HC on Kejriwal's low attendance

New Delhi: Rebel Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator Kapil Mishra on Monday moved a plea in the Delhi High Court seeking direction to state Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to join assembly sessions more frequently in view of his low attendance in the House.

In his plea, Mishra has sought that Kejriwal be directed to attend assembly sessions and to make a provision making 75 per cent attendance mandatory for all MLAs.

"Direct the Lt. Governor to ascertain feasibility of 'No Work, No Pay' for the MLAs, if presence is less than 50 per cent in the assembly," the plea said.

He has requested the court to issue direction to the Lt. Governor and the Speaker of the Delhi Assembly to ensure the presence of Kejriwal in the House and replies to questions related to public interest.

Mishra has also demanded that Kejriwal bring out an annual report card clearly outlining his performance.

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"He (Kejriwal) needs to inform the people of his constituency and also all the citizens of Delhi how well he performed against indicators like attendance in the assembly, the number of questions he replied, his understanding and appreciation of the different policies and laws that he made, the time that he spent in consulting their constituents, how well he oversaw the executive and a statement disclosing his income and assets," the plea said.

"Last year, the Delhi Assembly had 27 sessions but the Chief Minister, who is also the Water Minister, was present in seven only. It is not out of context to state that Delhi faces water crisis every year," the plea said, adding that during question hour, Kejriwal was never present in the assembly in the last 40 months.

"This shows how serious the Chief Minister is in discussing matters related to the people of Delhi and their development and performing the duties expected of them," the plea read.

Mishra in his plea pointed out that Kejriwal was absent in the monsoon session 2017, which was called to table the pending Bills, particularly the Minimum Wages Bill, which were passed by the Delhi Assembly, but returned by the Central government on the grounds of lacunae in procedures and rules.

He also said that Kejriwal had skipped special sessions in October 2017 and January this year.

In March 2018, Kejriwal was absent during the Budget Session, which has never happened in the history of the Delhi government. In June 2018, Kejriwal was not present in the special session called from June 6 to 10 to discuss the issue of full statehood to Delhi, Mishra said in his plea.