The central government announced the presidential approval of the Delhi National Capital Territory Government (Amendment) Bill 2021 through a notice in the bulletin.
Under the legislation, the “government” in Delhi means the “lieutenant governor” and the city government will now have to seek LG’s opinion before taking any executive action.
Parliament passed the bill last week: Lok Sabha on March 22 and Rajya Sabha on March 24.
After Rajya Sabha passed the bill, Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called it a “sad day for Indian democracy.”
The Center has maintained that the bill is in line with the July 2018 Supreme Court ruling on the scope of powers of the Deputy Governor and the Delhi government after a series of clashes between the two.
Union Minister G Kishan Reddy had said the amendments would lead to transparency and clarity in governance at NCT Delhi and enhance public accountability.
Explaining the rationale for the bill, he said the amendments had been made to remove ambiguities from the existing law.
He stressed that changes in the law have been sought in the spirit of what was said in a Supreme Court ruling and maintained that there is no political angle and that the amendments have a “technical” basis.
“The proposed bill does not in any way restrict any of the powers that the NCT Delhi government enjoys that are already provided for in the Constitution,” he had said.
In June 2018, Kejriwal and his cabinet ministers had organized a sit-in in the lieutenant governor’s office as a power struggle between the then LG and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government had escalated.
In July 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that the lieutenant governor cannot interfere in all decisions of the Delhi government and must act with the help and advice of the council of ministers.
The Aam Aadmi Party has already said that it planned to go to the Supreme Court against the legislation, claiming it was an “unconstitutional” attempt to make the Delhi government “administratively powerless” by a political party that has become “electorally powerless “by the Delhi government. people of the national capital.
Congress, the Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena, DMK and other opposition parties also called the bill “unconstitutional” and stated that it would fail judicial scrutiny. They had demanded that he be examined by a select committee.
According to the exposition of the objects and the reasons for the bill, to give effect to the interpretation made by the Supreme Court that had ruled that the city government does not need to obtain the “concurrence” of the lieutenant governor in all matters of the day-to-day governance, the account has been brought.
“The aforementioned bill will promote harmonious relations between the legislature and the executive, and will further define the responsibilities of the elected government and the LG, in line with the constitutional governance scheme of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, as interpreted by the Supreme Court . “the object declaration read.
Minister Reddy said that the GNCTD law was first introduced in 1991. However, the law passed to the higher courts and the courts of the Supreme Court because there were problems and ambiguity.
“It is our responsibility to provide clarity. Nothing is being added to the GNCTD Act that is contrary to the constitutional framework …”, he said, adding that the bill proposes four key amendments.
The minister said that Delhi is not a full-fledged state and does not have full power. The executive powers of the Delhi LG are different from the powers of the state governors.
The Delhi assembly can enact laws on all items on the state list and the concurrent list, except public order, police, and land.
The bill established that the Legislative Assembly will not dictate any norm that allows itself or its committees to consider the affairs of the day-to-day administration of the national capital or to carry out inquiries in relation to administrative decisions.
.
