Tension between the Centre and the AAP-led Delhi Government is set to escalate as the Union Home Ministry has reportedly returned 14 Bills, including the important Delhi Janlokpal Bill and the Code of Criminal Procedure (Delhi Amendment) Bill, on the grounds that proper procedure was not followed before they were passed by the Assembly. “Since Delhi is not a full State and remains a Union
Territory, the Bill needs to be approved by the Centre before it can be introduced in the Assembly. Once the Assembly clears the Bill, it has to be sent to the Lieutenant-Governor who forwards it to the Centre for Presidential assent. But all the 14 Bills were cleared directly by the Assembly without any consent either from the Centre or the Lt-Governor. Since proper procedure was not followed, these Bills have been returned for appropriate correction by the State Government,” a senior Home Ministry official said. But L-G’s media advisor Simi Malhotra said that the report regarding returning of the 14 Bills was incorrect.
After the Bills passed by the Delhi Assembly were sent back, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Government at the Centre. He tweeted on Friday, “Modi’s slogan — Na kaam karoonga, na karne doonga (Neither will I work, nor will I let others work).”
The Chief Minister said the Central Government had no intention of clearing the Bills. “They are interfering in everything. Should not the elected Government in Delhi have the right to pass any legislation? Should the Central Government have the right to block every work done by the Delhi Government? Is the Centre the headmaster of the Delhi Government?”
Prior to returning the 14 Bills, the Centre had sent back seven other Bills over the last few months related to Value Added Tax (VAT), and a hefty hike in salaries of the
legislators.
The anti-corruption Delhi Janlokpal Bill was one of the main electoral promises of the AAP during the Assembly elections last year as it was aimed at reducing corruption in the Government functioning.
Among other Bills reportedly returned by the Home Ministry included Delhi School (Verification of Accounts and Refund of Excess Fee) Bill, 2015; Delhi School Education (Amendment) Bill, 2015 (Bill No.10 of 2015); the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Delhi Amendment) Bill, 2015; the Code of Criminal Procedure (Delhi Amendment) Bill, 2015; the Delhi (Right of Citizen to time Bound Delivery of Services) (Amendment) Bill, 2015; Minimum Wages (Delhi)
Amendment Bill, 2015; the Working Journalists and Other Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Service) and Miscellaneous Provisions (Delhi Amendment) Bill, 2015; the Delhi Janlokpal Bill, 2015; the Netaji Subhash University of Technology Bill 2015; the Delhi (Right of Citizen to Time Bound Delivery of Services) Amendment Bill 2015; the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (Amendment) Bill 2015 and the Delhi Members of Legislative Assembly (Removal Of Disqualification) Bill 2015.
Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly, Vijender Gupta, said that the CM should apologise to the people of Delhi as he got the Bills passed by the House by not following the rules laid down in the Constitution. “He has done dis-service to the people of Delhi.”
He said that the CM himself had said that if any Bill was returned back by the Centre, he would again table them before the House. “He has already tabled the VAT Amendment Bill in the House. He should also table other Bills in the Assembly.”
On the other hand, Congress leader Haroon Yusuf said, “It appears that Kejriwal is not serious about getting anything done. When we were in Government, we followed the Constitution. We would first send Bills to the Lieutenant-General for approval.”
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