Delhi’s general administration department on Tuesday said that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s request to allow Cabinet minister Atishi to hoist the Indian flag during the state government’s Independence Day event at Chhatrasal Stadium is not “legally valid”, ANI reported.
The additional chief secretary of the general administration said: “It is absolutely clear that the above communication does not qualify in the permissible communication which can be sent outside prison [by Kejriwal]…Any communication, written or oral, in contravention of the rules quoted above, is not legally valid and therefore cannot be acted upon.”
This came a day after Delhi minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Gopal Rai instructed the department to make arrangements for Atishi to hoist the tricolour instead of Kejriwal, who is currently in Tihar jail.
Rai said that the directive was issued on Kejriwal’s behest after he met with the chief minister in prison.
Kejriwal had also conveyed the request to Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena last week, reported The Hindu.
The department said it had “sought convenience of the Delhi chief minister for his availability for the Independence Day function”, but since he is in judicial custody, the issue has been brought to the notice of the higher authorities and that a decision is awaited.
“The flag should be hoisted by the CM or Minister of an elected government,” Manish Sisodia, Aam Aadmi Party leader and former deputy chief minister, told PTI on Tuesday. “I don’t think there is any problem in this. However, it would be wrong to expect about democracy, Constitution from the LG [Lieutenant Governor]. We can only expect dictatorship from them and that they are doing.”