Kejriwal asks Law Minister to examine Bills rejected by MHA

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday instructed Delhi Law and Justice Minister Kailash Gehlot to go through the observations made on 12 Bills, which were returned by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) last year.

Gehlot has been told to carefully examine the reasons for refusal of the Bills, so that necessary changes can be made.

It may be mentioned that as many as 14 Bills passed by the Delhi Assembly were returned by the Home Ministry last year, saying proper procedures were not followed by the Aam Aadmi Party government while adopting the legislations. Out of these, two were rectified and passed.

A senior MHA official had said since Delhi is a Union Territory, any Bill it wants to adopt in the Assembly has to be first sent to Centre for approval. Only if the nod is given can it be moved for legislative approval.

Once the Assembly passes the Bill, it goes to the Lieutenant Governor and again to the central government for Presidential assent.

"In none of the Bills, the Delhi government took prior approval from the central government and straightway passed the Bills in the Assembly. Since proper procedures were not followed, all the 14 Bills were returned to the Delhi government for correction," the MHA official said.

"The Bills have not been rejected, they have only been returned. If the Delhi government sends them back after following due procedures, they will be looked into afresh," the official added.

A Delhi government official responded: "We will examine the issues raised by the MHA and work towards amending them. Lack of prior approval cannot, constitutionally, be the sole reason for returning of the Bills."

The Bills which were returned last year included the Jan Lokpal Bill 2015, Delhi School (Verification of Accounts and Refund of Excess Fee) Bill 2015, Delhi School Education (Amendment) Bill 2015, Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Delhi Amendment) Bill 2015 and a Bill related to Working Journalists.

The development had triggered a duel between the AAP-led Delhi government and the Centre, who have been at loggerheads over various issues.