BackDelhi assembly passes resolution against home ministry’s notification
Resolution urges President Pranab Mukherjee to ask SC to define powers and responsibilities of Delhi government
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New Delhi: The Delhi assembly on Wednesday passed a resolution against a notification issued by the home ministry seeking to curtail the powers of the city-state’s elected government, which vowed to pursue its fight.
The resolution urged President Pranab Mukherjee to ask the Supreme Court to define the powers and responsibilities of the elected government of Delhi.
It also asked all the members of the assembly to write to members of Parliament about the “unconstitutional" act by the federal home ministry, which last week issued the notification giving the Delhi lieutenant governor the right to decide on the transfer of senior bureaucrats and restricted Delhi’s anti-corruption bureau (ACB) from taking cognizance of offences against central government officials.
The Delhi high court on Monday ruled that issuing such a notification was beyond the powers of the central government and that the ACB can investigate Delhi Police personnel, who are employees of the central government.
Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday launched a blistering attack on the central government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), alleging that the notification conferring more powers on the LG was part of an experiment to take the country towards dictatorship.
“Whatever is happening in Delhi is dangerous. This is the Delhi experiment of the BJP-led Centre," Kejriwal said. “One by one, this experiment would be implemented in every non-BJP state. They want to take the country towards dictatorship. I appeal to all non-BJP chief ministers to come together and unite on this issue," he said.
Kejriwal said his government was prepared for a long fight on the issue.
The AAP won 67 seats in the 70-member assembly in February elections, reducing the BJP to just three.
The resolution moved by Somnath Bharti on Tuesday was passed by the house as BJP legislators staged a walkout from the assembly when four amendments to the resolution were put to vote.
“It is a tussle between the constitution and politics," Bidyut Chakrabarty, a teacher of political science at Delhi University, said about the latest faceoff. “We are governed by the constitutional procedure established by law. Arvind Kejriwal has validity from the political point of view; constitutionally he has no claim."
PTI contributed to this story.
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