The Aam Aadmi Party has been fighting tooth and nail against the Centres Delhi ordinance, which gave the Lieutenant Governor the final say over civil services in the national capital territory.Now, AAPs Member of Parliament Raghav Chadha has voiced his objection against the proposed bill which will replace the ordinance, and said that its introduction to the Rajya Sabha should be impermissible.Taking to Twitter, Chadha said, “My letter to the Honble Chairman of Rajya Sabha opposing the very introduction of the Bill replacing the Delhi Ordinance. The introduction of the Bill in Rajya Sabha to replace the Delhi Ordinance is IMPERMISSIBLE for three important reasons, as highlighted in the letter. I hope the Honble Chairman will not permit the introduction of the Bill and direct the government to withdraw it.”My letter to the Honble Chairman of Rajya Sabha opposing the very introduction of the Bill replacing the Delhi Ordinance. The introduction of the Bill in Rajya Sabha to replace the Delhi Ordinance is IMPERMISSIBLE for three important reasons, as highlighted in the letter. I… pic.twitter.com/tW10WWPTgG— Raghav Chadha (@raghav_chadha) July 23, 2023Raghav Chadha gives 3 reasons why Delhi ordinance bill should be withdrawnIn the letter the Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar, Chadha highlighted three reasons why the controversial ordinance should be withdrawn from the upper house of parliament.Chadha wrote, “The Government proposes to introduce the Bill to replace the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) ordinance promulgated by the President on 19 May 2023.“On 11 May 2023, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court unanimously held that as a matter of constitutional requirement, the civil servants serving in the Government of NCT of Delhi are answerable to the elected arm of the government, i.e. the elected Council of Ministers presided over by the Chief Minister. This link of accountability was held to be crucial to a democratic and popularly accountable model of government.“In a single stroke, the Ordinance has undone this model by seizing this control again from the duly elected Government of Delhi and vesting it in the Government of NCT of Delhi down to only its elected arm – enjoying the mandate of the people of Delhi, but bereft of the governing apparatus necessary for meeting that mandate. This has left the GNCTD in a crisis of administration, put day-to-day governance in jeopardy, and has led the civil service to stall, disobey, and contradict the elected Governments orders. Particularly, the Ordinance is blatantly unconstitutional for 3 reasons.“Firstly, this Ordinance and any Bill along the same lines as the Ordinance, seeks essentially to undo the position laid down by this Honble Court without amending the Constitution itself from which this position flows. This is on the face of it impermissible and unconstitutional. By seeking to take away control over Services from the Delhi Government, contrary to the Honble Supreme Courts decision, the Ordinance has lost its legal validity because no law can be made to nullify the courts decision without changing the basis of that decision. The Ordinance does not change the basis of the Honble Supreme Courts decision, which is the Constitution itself.“Secondly, Article 239AA(7)(a) empowers Parliament to make a law to give effect to or to supplement the provisions contained in Article 239AA. Under the scheme of Article 239AA, control over Services lies with the Delhi Government. A Bill in line with the Ordinance is, therefore, not a Bill to give effect to or supplement Article 239AA but a Bill to damage and destroy Article 239AA, which is impermissible.“Thirdly, the Ordinance is under challenge in the Honble Supreme Court, which…has referred to the question of whether an Act of Parliament (and not just an Ordinance) can violate the substantive requirements of Article 239AA, to a Constitution Bench. As the constitutionality of any Act that may be passed by the Parliament is already before a Constitution Bench of the Honble Supreme Court, it will be proper to await the outcome of the decision before introducing the Bill.“In Conclusion, any law which the Parliament may make needs to supplement the provisions of Article 239AA and for only matters incidental or consequential to those provisions. Therefore, the proposed Bill which contains provisions contrary to the provisions of Article 239AA is not a valid exercise of the Parliaments legislative competence. Thus, this Bill is unconstitutional and this House cannot consider it.“I would therefore request you to not permit the introduction of this Bill [to the Rajya Sabha] and direct the [Central] Government to withdraw it and save the Constitution.”The constitutional validity of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023 will be heard by a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court.
