The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi has convened a two-day emergency session of the Legislative Assembly beginning Tuesday amid a bitter fight between Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung.
The main aim of the ’emergency’ Assembly session is to deliberate on the Central government’s notification giving absolute powers to the LG in appointment of bureaucrats and issues of police and public order.
The Assembly was originally scheduled to meet in June for the passage of Budget.
Officials said the session will deliberate on the gazette notification issued by the Centre as well as issues relating to sharing of power between the elected government and the LG.
They said the government had sought legal opinion from constitutional expert KK Venugopal and former Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium and both felt that the notification is against the provisions in the Constitution and laid down norms.
“Legal opinions from noted constitutional expert KK Venugopal and former Solicitor General of India Gopal Subramanium were placed before the Cabinet and discussed in the meeting,” the Chief Minister’s office said.
The Cabinet also decided that depending on the requirement, the session can be extended further.
In the notification issued on Friday, the Centre gave absolute powers to the LG in appointment of bureaucrats while also clarifying that he need not “consult” the chief minister on subjects like police and public order.
The notification had also barred the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of the Delhi government from registering any case against officers and political functionaries of the Central government.
However, in a victory for the Kejriwal government the Delhi High Court yesterday ruled that the ACB can act against Delhi Police officials.
The High Court also noted that Lieutenant Governor of Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi is bound to act upon the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers who are directly elected by the citizens of Delhi and the Centre’s “executive fiat” siding with him is “suspect”.
After the notification was issued, Kejriwal had launched a frontal attack on the Centre, accusing it of “back-stabbing” the people of the city by “siding” with the Lt Governor to run Delhi through “backdoor” and protect the corrupt.