Delhi cabinet minister Atishi. (File photo/Twitter)
The AAP leader has been invited by Cambridge University to speak in his official capacity at a conference on ‘India at 100: Towards Being a Global Leader’ to be held on June 15.
Delhi Education Minister Atishi moved the High Court here on Tuesday, seeking a direction to the Center to take a decision on granting necessary clearances for her to travel to the United Kingdom (UK) for an official visit next week.
The petition, which is likely to come up for hearing in the Delhi High Court on Wednesday, said the AAP leader has been invited by Cambridge University in his official capacity to speak at a conference on ‘India at 100: Towards Becoming a Global Leader’ Has gone. To be held on 15th June.
The proposed visit, Atishi’s petition said, is important for the governance of Delhi as it would allow the city government to “show leaps” in the areas of education, health and urban development.
It added that further delay in granting the tour would defeat the purpose.
The petition, filed through advocates Hrishika Jain, Aman Naqvi and Bharat Gupta, contends that restricting the petitioner’s right to travel abroad on discretionary grounds infringes on his personal liberty.
It also argued that the requirement of constitutional functionaries and ministers in the state government to seek “political clearance” of the Center to travel abroad violates the dignity and independence of a constitutional office.
The petition states that the Delhi government last month granted administrative approval for travel, the central government is “only responding” with questions and clarifications after forwarding the proposal to the Lieutenant Governor, thus including applying for visas. The whole process is getting delayed. ,
“The proposal was sent to the central government authorities for further approval process. Now its more than 10 days, and still no clearance has been issued to him.
“In the present case, the non-decision of the respondents on the matter by 06.06.2023, leaving only eight days for all further formalities and visa approval, is effectively acting as arbitrary non-decision of the proposed travel ,” said the petition.
The petition claimed that the petitioner had set out to “ensure that children of Delhi benefit from best practices in primary schooling abroad” and that the visit would be “crucial for exchange of views on improving urban governance”. And has arranged a number of visits to primary schools in the UK to ensure this is true. Delhi showcases its progress in urban design”.
It further argued that the delay in granting travel clearance violates the right to privacy.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI,