oppn parties Governing Delhi: Debate Reopens As Centre Seeks To Expand L-G Role

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Governing Delhi: Debate Reopens As Centre Seeks To Expand L-G Role

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2021-03-19 03:14:58

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

After three years (2015-2018) of intense sparring between the Centre and the elected government in Delhi over the powers of the Lieutenant Governor (L-G) the matter reached the Supreme Court, which in its landmark decision in 2018 limited the powers of the L-G and gave enough space to the elected government in the NCR to govern with a fair degree of freedom.

Now, the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2021, introduced in parliament by the NDA government, seeks to undo the effects of judicial intervention by expanding the powers of the L-G and make the elected government subservient to him or her in almost all matters.

In the main, the bill seeks to expand the powers of the L-G (which till now were limited to land, public order and police) to make it mandatory for the elected government to take all its decisions to the L-G for prior consultation. In one fell swoop, this law will make the Delhi government a puppet and the Delhi assembly inconsequential. The L-G will be supreme and will have the power to veto any decision of the elected government he or she does not like.

This is not the spirit of cooperative federalism the Supreme Court had talked about in its 2018 order. It is clear that the NDA government wants to have its way and wants to amend the act just to undo the balancing act of the court. It is true that all Central governments the world over wish to retain a good degree of control over the region where the seat of the government is located. This is also a necessity as major, strategic and decision-making offices of the government and diplomatic missions are located in this region. But this should not be achieved by reducing an elected government to inconsequence.

If the Centre is so concerned about the amount of control it wishes to wield over NCR, it should shed the pretence and make it a centrally-administered territory once again. It should change the laws, dismiss the elected government and do away with the Delhi assembly. It should take complete charge of the region. If it does not want to do that, it should follow the 2018 Supreme Court order in letter and spirit and allow the Delhi government to function in the manner set out in the above judgment, with reduced powers for the L-G.

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