Aam Aadmi Party convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is seeking the support of opposition parties against the ordinance brought by the Center regarding the Delhi government. Talks have also been held with the Congress party in this regard, but the Congress remembered the day when the Kejriwal government in the Delhi Assembly passed a resolution to withdraw the ‘Bharat Ratna’ from former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Now the Congress party is hesitating to support Kejriwal on the ordinance issue. On the other hand, Dr. BR Ambedkar, the architect of the constitution, had made such a provision in the constitution itself that any law in the capital of India would be made by the Parliament of India. Former Legislative Assembly Secretary and constitutional expert SK Sharma, who has worked with four Chief Ministers in Delhi, says that now the controversy over power is a direct question on Dr. Ambedkar’s scholarship.
According to SK Sharma, the elected government in Delhi ‘wants to rule on the lines of Punjab, Haryana or Uttar Pradesh. This is the crux of the real controversy. He would not comment on the Supreme Court’s decision. In one of its decisions in the past, the Supreme Court had given the right of transfer posting to the Delhi government. After this, when Kejriwal started making rapid transfers, the central government brought an ordinance on transfers and appointments in Delhi. Due to this, the transfer posting which came in the hands of Kejriwal government again went to LG. Now Kejriwal is seeking the support of opposition parties against the Center on this issue. On Tuesday, he spoke to West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee. Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann was also with him.
Questioning Dr. Ambedkar’s scholarship
According to constitutional expert SK Sharma, the center has the right to make laws regarding Delhi. All the laws that have been made in Delhi have been made by the Parliament. Constitution maker Dr. BR Ambedkar has given this arrangement in the constitution. To demand full statehood for Delhi is to question the wisdom of Dr. Ambedkar. Earlier, the Aam Aadmi Party has raised the demand for full statehood for Delhi. In 1947, when the constitution was being framed for independent India, the matter of giving full statehood to Delhi also came to the fore. The Constituent Assembly constituted a committee under the chairmanship of Pattabhi Sitaramaiah in this matter. In the report of the committee, it was agreed to give full statehood to Delhi. When this report reached Dr. Ambedkar through Dr. Rajendra Prasad, he rejected it. Dr. Ambedkar said that Delhi state cannot have the right over the capital of India. Only the central government will pass the law regarding Delhi. There will be no interference of the state in this. In 1987, Balakrishnan Committee was formed to make Delhi a full state. The committee said, any change in law and order is not in the interest of Delhi. After this, after the confrontation between the Delhi government and the officers, the Center implemented the NCT Government (Amendment) Act 2021 through Parliament. In this, the lieutenant governor was given primacy over the elected government.
Attempt to break the restrictions of the constitution
As SK Sharma, the Kejriwal government kept trying to get out of those restrictions, which are mentioned in the Indian Constitution. After several tussles over the issue of powers, the Center enacted the law, under which the Delhi government would mean the ‘Lieutenant Governor’. Actually, the Delhi government wants to move forward on the lines of other states. Looking at the past, Delhi has been a union territory. Just as there was a demand in Puducherry that the elected representatives of the people should also be in the government, similarly a system was made in Delhi. The practice of ruling with the advice of the LG started by constituting the Legislative Assembly. However, the Kejriwal government wanted to work on the lines of Punjab, Haryana or Uttar Pradesh. The Delhi government will now have to take the permission of the Lieutenant Governor before taking any executive decision. Before the AAP government, whenever a bill was introduced in the Vidhansabha, the name of the LG used to appear there under 239A. The Delhi Government removed the word Lieutenant Governor from this part of the Legislative Assembly proceedings. Due to this the dispute went on increasing. Lieutenant Governor started being written with National Capital Territory. When the question arose, the meaning of the government was started writing ‘Council of Ministers of the National Capital Region’.
What is the difference between Article 239 and 239AA
SK Sharma explains that there has been a difference of opinion between the Delhi Government and the Central Government since the beginning regarding the interpretation of Articles 239 and 239AA of the Constitution. Article 239 is for union territories. In this their rights and limitations are described. 239AA has been added specifically for Delhi. According to this, the Lieutenant Governor will interpret the provisions of 239AA according to his understanding. The Kejriwal government kept understanding it in its own way. In the year 2018, the Supreme Court had said in its decision, Article-239AA was after all a democratic experiment. Its interpretation will decide whether it was successful or not. What is its explanation? In this, Delhi has got a different status from other union territories. It is also written in this that under this there will be an elected government in Delhi, which will be accountable to the public. The Supreme Court has underlined them. The Lieutenant Governor of Delhi shall act on the advice of the elected government on matters other than the provisions of Article 239AA of the Constitution.
There has been such a provision in Delhi
It has been said in the rules that there will be no interference of the Legislative Assembly in these four subjects of land, police, law and order and services. Therefore, the Union Territory does not have any service of its own, so these four subjects will be handled from the Raj Niwas. The Legislative Assembly will not give opinion on these to the Lieutenant Governor, even if he agrees or not. For the rest of the subjects, the permission of the center has to be taken in advance. As SK Sharma, the Delhi Assembly can make laws on other subjects. It also has the power to make laws on subjects in the state or concurrent lists. For this, the permission of the center has to be taken in advance. The governments that were in Delhi before the ‘AAP’ government used to take the permission of the Center before making laws, so they did not have a dispute with the Center. The Centre, LG and even the President were insulted on many issues. Everyone had seen what happened regarding the Lokpal bill.
This system is applicable in many countries of the world.
The Supreme Court, in a judgment on May 11, handed over the control of police, law and order and all other services in the national capital, except land, to the Delhi government. Now the Central Government has approached the Supreme Court to review the decision of the Constitution Bench. Apart from this, the central government brought an ordinance to create the National Capital Civil Services Authority. Through this, the right of transfer and posting has again gone to the Lieutenant Governor. Central government sources say that such a system is applicable in many countries of the world. Delhi-like arrangements have also been described in the US capital Washington DC, Germany’s capital Berlin and France’s capital Paris. Delhi hosts a large number of diplomatic missions and international organizations. In such a situation, the control of the central government ensures effective coordination with foreign governments. It also facilitates the smooth functioning of these diplomatic institutions.