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All about the amended NCT of Delhi bill that’s triggered a new AAP vs Central govt tussle

Union cabinet has cleared amendments to Government of NCT of Delhi Act, seeking to give more powers to L-G. Delhi govt has called it ‘a murder of constitutional democracy’.

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New Delhi: The Union cabinet earlier this week approved some proposed amendments to the Government of NCT of Delhi Act that sought to give more powers to the Lieutenant Governor, prompting the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government to call it “a murder of constitutional democracy”. 

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the NCT bill was passed in the Cabinet “to snatch power of Delhi’s elected government and give it to the Centre-appointed Lieutenant Governor”.

Sisodia also said that “BJP wants to govern Delhi through backdoor as people chose not to elect them in three consecutive elections”.

The NCT Bill, cleared by the cabinet Wednesday, is among 20 other bills proposed to be introduced in this Parliament Session. 

“The Bill proposes to amend the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991, in the context of judgment dated 14.02.2019 of Hon’ble Supreme Court (Division bench) in Civil Appeal No 2357 of 2017 and other connected matters,” according to the list of bills, accessed by ThePrint, to be proposed in the Parliament.

According to this judgment, the Delhi government’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) cannot probe central government employees, and the Centre has power to appoint an Enquiry Commission. 

Currently, law and order, and police come under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The administrative powers, however, rest with the Delhi government. 


Also read: The core of Arvind Kejriwal’s politics — create a tussle, play victim, rinse and repeat


What is the Bill all about?

The legislation is expected to amend a 1991 Act with regard to the powers and functions of the Delhi government and the LG. 

The Bill is expected to clearly define the powers of the L-G and the Delhi government on the lines of the February 2019 judgment of the Supreme Court. This means it will give more power to the L-G’s office. 

According to sources in the Delhi government, the proposed amendments will add a category of bills, which fall outside the ambit of Delhi legislative assembly and which the L-G must reserve for consideration of the President. 

This means the Constitution confers powers on the L-G to refer a matter to the President for a decision where his views are different from that of the council of ministers and in cases where the President’s decision is pending, the L-G may take immediate decision if he is of the opinion that the matter is urgent. 

However, this constitutional provision became inoperative or ineffective after the SC’s observation in July 2018 that the city government need not obtain L-G’s concurrence on all day-to-day governance related matters, but only need to inform him. 

The proposed amendments, according to Union and Delhi government sources, also specify that the elected government needs to send legislative proposals to L-G at least 14 days in advance to seek his opinion and avoid any delays. 

How did the matter reach the courts?

The issue of distribution of powers in Delhi has been at the centre of a raging debate between the Centre and AAP administration for years now. This is because the central government has retained rights over certain matters, such as public order. 

The power tussle between the Centre and the AAP government had reached the Supreme Court in 2017.

In July 2018, the top court defined the role of the L-G in Delhi, and ruled that he cannot “interfere in every decision of the Delhi government”. 

The court also underlined the fact that the status of the L-G was different from that of state governors. “There is no room for absolutism and no room for anarchy,” the bench had stated

“The lieutenant governor must work harmoniously with the elected government. The L-G is the administrative head but can’t act as an obstructionist,” he said.

The issue of services, however, divided the bench that delivered this order and the matter was referred to a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court. The hearing is yet to conclude. 


Also read: In AAP vs Centre, Supreme Court seems to have forgotten that Delhi has an elected govt


How did it all begin?

The power tussle between Kejriwal and the L-G began in February 2014. 

The ACB had lodged an FIR naming industrialist Mukesh Ambani and others, including then Union ministers M. Veerappa Moily and Murli Deora. Kejriwal accused them of fixing gas prices arbitrarily.

Ambani’s Reliance Industries moved the Delhi High Court in May 2014, seeking quashing of the FIR. It also challenged the 1993 notification of the Centre that empowered the ACB to initiate a probe against central government employees.

The Manmohan Singh government also moved the high court challenging the ACB’s power to name Union ministers in an FIR. It said that probing Union ministers was beyond the ACB’s jurisdiction. 

By 20 May, the high court in multiple rulings asked the Centre and Reliance Industries to cooperate with the ACB probe. Later that month, the Narendra Modi government was sworn in, and in July 2014, it issued a fresh notification withdrawing from the ACB the powers to probe central government employees.

Soon after, the AAP won the Delhi Assembly election in February 2015.

On 21 May 2015, the Centre issued a notification limiting the ACB’s power to act against Delhi Police officials. It also empowered the L-G to appoint bureaucrats in Delhi.

Four days later, the Delhi HC ruled that the ACB had jurisdiction to arrest policemen. The high court also termed the Centre’s notification “suspect”.

The Kejriwal government moved the HC on 28 May, challenging the Centre’s notification that granted the L-G power to make the appointment of bureaucrats. 

The high court pronounced its judgment in August 2016 declaring the L-G as the administrative head of Delhi. It said that the Kejriwal government’s argument that the L-G was bound by the aid and advice of the council of ministers was “without substance”.

The matter then reached the Supreme Court, which set up a constitution bench in February 2017. Hearing in the case began in November that year when the apex court made a significant observation that the L-G did not have absolute powers.

The hearing concluded in early December 2017 and the Supreme Court reserved its judgment that was pronounced in July 2018.

The Supreme Court ruled that L-G Anil Baijal cannot act as an “obstructionist” and “is bound to act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers”.


Also read: SC blow for Arvind Kejriwal’s Delhi govt, rules Centre controls anti-corruption bureau


 

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3 COMMENTS

  1. Delhi should be governed by Central government regardless of who is in the power. Delhi has turned into a slum by this politics of appeasing various garden variety groups. The traffic, the noise, the congestion, the crime, and world notorious air and water pollution of Delhi is all a result of power grabbing politics.
    A central government run Delhi will make sure that vested interest aren’t taken into consideration while policy making, and central government will be incentivised to make Delhi a world class city rather than an overcrowded slum which it is today.

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