On the first day of their Assembly session, the AAP government moved a resolution against the Centre’s notification giving absolute powers to the Lieutenant Governor (LG) on transfers and postings of senior bureaucrats and restricting the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) from probing central government employees.
Moving the resolution, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that the notification was an “insult” to the “biggest mandate” the people of Delhi had given in the assembly polls.
Alleging that the notification was in violation of the Constitution, he said that the government had presented the resolution before the House as attempts were being made to “curb rights” of a democratically-elected government.
Tomorrow the central government can say that you don’t have control over the sources of water so you can’t supply water to the city. The issuance of the notification is an insult to the biggest mandate of Delhi’s people.
— Manish Sisodia
In the notification, the Centre gave absolute powers to the LG in the appointment of bureaucrats while also clarifying that he need not “consult” the chief minister on subjects like police and public orders. The ACB of the Delhi government has also been barred from registering any case against officers and political functionaries of the central government.
However, the Delhi High Court yesterday ruled that the ACB had the authority to probe central government officials, including Delhi Police personnel.
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