New Delhi (The Hawk): After Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday accused the Lt. Governor of ending the yoga courses, a representative of the L-G Secretariat stated that the Board of Governors of Delhi Pharmaceutical Science & Research University made the decision to end the yoga classes (DPSRU).
The Board of Governors of the fully autonomous Delhi Pharmaceutical Science & Research University (DPSRU) decided to end the Yogshala programme in its current form, and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had given the DPSRU BoG permission to make such decisions in writing, an L-G Secretariat official said on Friday.
The official continued, "The Deputy CM had anticipated the University to take the unlawful choice of continuing the curriculum, knowing full well that it was utterly illegal and untenable as per the mission of DPSRU, so that he himself and the AAP administration could remain cleared of wrongdoing.
The official continued, "Once the University decided to end the programme, the Deputy CM first tried to steamroll it through a note, where he took the diametrically opposite position with regard to the autonomy of the University, and then moved a one-page note (dated October 26, 2022) endorsed by CM Arvind Kejriwal, asking the LG to overrule the DPSRU's decision in an egregious and illegal manner.
The representative claimed that the claims made by AAP officials were completely incorrect and intentionally misleading.
The L-G did not halt the Yogashala programme, and when asked to support a plainly illegal proposal put out by the Dy. CM and CM, he upheld the legal position that expressly forbids anybody, even the L-G, from interfering with an autonomous institution's justifiable judgement.
In his capacity as Chancellor, Lt. Governor V.K. Saxena rejected Dy. CM Manish Sisodia's request to override the unanimous decision of the Board of Governors of the DPSRU to end the "Dilli Ki Yogashala" programme in its current form. He described any such decision on his behalf as "patently illegal."
The Chief Minister has been urged by Saxena to "explore putting into place, other ways and means including linkages with institutions that have the required expertise in Yoga and logistical and statutory capacity to ensure that Yoga is made available to the people" in response to a one-page note (not a file) sent by Sisodia and endorsed by CM Arvind Kejriwal.
(Inputs from Agencies)