Delhi services bill: Oppn lawmakers call bill ‘unconstitutional’

A number of Opposition lawmakers labelled the Delhi services bill as unconstitutional, questioned the Centre’s attempt to take away the Delhi government’s power, and at least one Opposition lawmaker cautioned parties supporting the NDA, saying that “someday, this anti-federal knock will come” at their door too.

The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023, was passed by Rajya Sabha on Monday, with 131 members voting in favour and 102 against. The bill was passed by Lok Sabha last week.

Initiating a debate on the bill in the Upper House, Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi, who had also appeared for the Delhi government in the Supreme Court case against the Delhi lieutenant governor over services, claimed the bill makes changes in the Constitution without bringing a Constitution amendment bill.

He accused the Centre of being a “control-freak” as no government in the past had ever tried to overrule the status of the Delhi government.

“This bill is completely unconstitutional. It is fundamentally anti-democratic. It is a frontal assault on the regional voice and the regional aspirations of the people of Delhi. It violates all principles of federalism, all norms of civil service accountability, all models of assembly-based democracy. It violates the basic structure,” he asserted.

As a few Opposition parties such as the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) supported the government on the bill, Singhvi quoted German theologian Martin Niemöller — “First they came for the socialists and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist…” —and said that a time would come when “this anti-federal knock” will reach their doors.

The Congress leader said that the bill allows two bureaucrats to overrule an elected chief minister and will turn the LG — a constitutional figurehead except in matters of land, police and law and order — into a “super CM” and give powers to the LG to appoint the heads of a large number of regulatory agencies.

Aam Aadmi Party MP Raghav Chadha said the Bharatiya Janata Party should leave “Nehru-vad” behind and should follow “Vajpayee-vad” and “Advani-vad”. He said the bill is a “political fraud,” and called it a “constitutional sin” and an “administrative logjam”.

Chadha said on May 11, a Constitution bench of the Supreme Court unanimously reaffirmed that civil servants in the Delhi government are accountable to the elected council of ministers led by the chief minister. This accountability, he said, was essential for a democratic and accountable form of government.

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam member Tiruchi Siva said the bill infringes upon the spirit of democracy and Constitution. He said the bill is against constitutional morality, adding that a state government which is elected by people is answerable to the people.

BJD leader Sasmit Patra, who supported the bill, said the legislation is not against the Constitution. V Vijaysai Reddy of the YSRCP also supported the bill, accusing the AAP of needing power to “support anti-nationals and separatists”, and claiming that the party is unfit to govern Delhi.

(With agency inputs)