'GNCTD (Amendment) Act will paralyse governance in Delhi'
New Delhi: The provisions of the recently enacted GNCTD (Amendment) Act will not only paralyse governance in Delhi but also have grave repercussions on how federal governance is carried out in the country, a group of 76 former civil servants said in a joint statement on Friday.
This is an unfortunate move and bad in law, said the signatories to the letter including former Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar, former secretary of Planing Commission N C Saxena, former IAS officer Aruna Roy, and ex-secretary of Department of Agriculture Siraj Hussain.
The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act, 2021, accords primacy to Delhi's Lieutenant Governor (LG) over the elected government. According to the legislation, the "government" in Delhi means the "Lieutenant Governor".
"Section 44 of the Act now states that before taking any executive action, the elected government shall have to take prior permission of the Lieutenant Governor, even in matters in which the Assembly has the right to make laws. This is in direct contravention of the Supreme Court's judgement...," the letter said.
By curtailing the powers of the Delhi Assembly and subordinating the executive power of the elected government to the Lieutenant Governor, Parliament has negated the provisions of Article 239 AA of the Constitution without amending the Constitution, but merely through amendments to the GNCTD Act, it said.
"This is an unfortunate move and bad in law. It deprives Delhi's citizens of the right to govern themselves in matters such as health, education, water, power, electric supply and roads. There is no justification to concentrate all powers of governance in the Union Government merely because Delhi is the country's capital," the letter stated.
This move will not only paralyse governance in Delhi, much to the detriment of public interest but also have grave repercussions on how federal governance is carried out in India, it said.
"In India's democracy, we have adopted a republican structure and the Westminster model, in which the Governor is a titular head, acting on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers," the letter said. This constitutionally mandated structure has been repeatedly upheld and endorsed by the honourable Supreme Court, it said.
