New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi has approached the Supreme Court to seek an “immediate stay” on the Modi government’s controversial ordinance to create an authority for transfer and posting of Group-A officers, the party announced Friday — a development that comes over a month after the ordinance became a major flashpoint.
Passed by the Modi government on 19 May, the Government of National Capital Territory (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023, sets up a three-member authority to be headed by the Delhi chief minister to decide on transfer of and postings of Group-A officers, including civil servants, in Delhi.
According to the ordinance, the body, which will also have the Delhi chief secretary and the principal secretary, home department, as members, will take its decisions by majority vote.
In its statement, the Delhi government said its petition wants the ordinance to be declared “unconstitutional”.
“The unseemly hurry in reversing a ruling of the Supreme Court via ordinance, and the timing of its promulgation, reveals a conscious intent to avoid democratic as well as judicial deliberations that could safeguard the interests of the people of Delhi,” the AAP quoted the petition as saying.
The announcement came hours after Delhi minister Saurabh Bhardwaj said that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will burn copies of the ordinance on 3 July. The party also plans to burn copies of the legislation in all assembly constituencies of Delhi on 5 July and continue the exercise until July 13, Bhardwaj tweeted.
However, later in the day, AAP said in another official statement that the 3 July protest stood cancelled in view of the case being sub judice.
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AAP versus Modi govt
A major flashpoint between the Union and the Delhi governments, the contentious ordinance was passed a week after the Supreme Court gave legislative and executive power over administrative services to Delhi government in the national capital.
In its 11 May ruling, a Constitution Bench of Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices M.R. Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli and P.S. Narasimha, in a unanimous judgement, said the elected government would have control over all services in Delhi, except those pertaining to land, police and law and order.
Not only does the ordinance make it mandatory for the three-member authority to take all decisions by majority votes, it also gives significant discretionary powers to the Delhi Lieutenant Governor, with his decision being final in case of a difference of opinion.
The central government’s move left the AAP fuming — according to it, the ordinance significantly dilutes the Delhi government’s control over administrative services and goes against the Supreme Court’s verdict.
While the ordinance is scheduled to be placed before the Rajya Sabha for its ratification during the monsoon session of Parliament, Kejriwal has been seeking opposition parties’ support against it.
In the meeting of 19 opposition parties held in Patna last week, the AAP was reportedly miffed at the Congress party for its decision to not publicly denounce the ordinance. This came after the reported refusal of Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge and leader Rahul Gandhi to a one-on-one meeting with Kejriwal to discuss the subject.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)