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AAP’s Chadha writes to RS chairman Dhankar opposing Bill replacing Delhi Ordinance
The National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023 aims to affect the powers of the elected State government of Delhi and restore certain powers to the lieutenant governor.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Raghav Chadha has written to Jagdeep Dhankhar, Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairman, urging him to withdraw the Bill replacing the Delhi Ordinance while underlining that it was ‘impermissible’ as the matter was under challenge in the Supreme Court.
“Till the matter remains subjudice, any kind of discussion or voting on this should not be held in the Parliament and neither should it be introduced. This attempt of the Centre to carry out such an elaborate legislative exercise is beyond the ambit of the authorities that the parliament holds and also because this Bill is unconstitutional and illegal,” Chadha said while addressing the media on Sunday outside the Parliament.
“I have written a letter to the Vice President and the Chairman that the “Ordinance” that takes away the powers of the Delhi Government is illegal and therefore should not be introduced,” Chadha wrote on Twitter.
“On May 11, 2023, a constitution bench of the Supreme Court unanimously held that as a matter of constitutional requirement, the civil servants serving in the Government of NCT (National Capital Territory) of Delhi are answerable to the elected arm of the government i.e. the elected council of ministers presided over by the chief minister. This link of accountability was held to be crucial to a democratic and popularly accountable model of government. In one single stroke, the Ordinance has undone this model by seizing this control again from the duly elected government of Delhi and vesting it in the hands of the unelected L-G (lieutenant governor VK Saxena). The Ordinance’s design is evident, i.e. to strip the government of Delhi down to only its elected arm enjoying the mandate of the people of Delhi, but bereft of the governing apparatus necessary for meeting that mandate. This has left the GNCTD in a crisis of administration, put day-to-day governance in jeopardy, and has led the civil service to stall, disobey, and contradict the elected Government’s orders,” Chadha’s letter to the Rajya Sabha chairman read.
The National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023 aims to affect the powers of the elected State government of Delhi and restore certain powers to the lieutenant governor.
While adding that the Ordinance was ‘blatantly unconstitutional’, the AAP MP claimed in the letter that “the Ordinance and any Bill along the same lines as the Ordinance, seeks essentially to undo the position laid down by Court without amending the Constitution itself from which this position flows.”
Chadha further demanded VP Dhankhar not permit the introduction of this Bill and instead direct the Union government to withdraw it, while adding that the effort should be made, ‘to save the Constitution.’
He asserted that no law can overturn a verdict by the Supreme Court without changing the bases of the judgement.
“The Ordinance does not change the basis of the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s decision, which is the Constitution itself. Secondly, Article 239AA(7)(a) empowers Parliament to make a law to ‘give effect to’ or to ‘supplement’ the provisions contained in Article 239AA. Under the scheme of Article 239AA, control over ‘Services’ lies with the Delhi government. A Bill in line with the Ordinance is, therefore, not a Bill to ‘give effect to’ or ‘supplement’ Article 239AA but a Bill to damage and destroy Article 239AA, which is impermissible,” Chadha’s letter further read.
The government had listed the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill 2023, to replace the contentious Ordinance on Delhi services ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament.
The NCT Amendment Bill is meant to replace the contentious Delhi Ordinance promulgated by the Centre to take over services from the Delhi government.
The AAP government had termed the promulgation of the Ordinance by the Centre a “deception” with the Supreme Court verdict on control of services.
The Supreme Court on Thursday referred the Delhi government’s challenge to the services ordinance to a Constitution bench of five judges.
Opposition MPs on Thursday too had walked out of a meeting of Rajya Sabha’s Business Advisory Committee (BAC), protesting against the inclusion of a Bill to replace the Delhi ordinance in official business and also objected to the inclusion of the Bill in a meeting chaired by Dhankhar.
