Launching a scathing attack on the Centre over the NCT Bill, which seeks to take over substantial powers of the Delhi government, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury Thursday said the Centre cannot give unbridled powers to bureaucrats, and that this would derail the well-established system of checks and balances.
Chowdhury also accused the Centre of unnecessarily “meddling” with the affairs of Delhi, and said that if it was successful in this, it could gradually mount such attacks in other states as well.
“If you leave everything to bureaucrats, then we don’t need to fight elections to get here,” he said, participating in the discussion in the Lok Sabha on The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill. The legislation seeks to replace an ordinance passed by the Centre earlier taking over the Delhi government’s powers regarding officials.
Chowdhury said the concept of “a triple chain of command” is the foundational principle of India’s Constitutional structure, with civil service officers accountable to ministers, ministers accountable to the Legislature, and the Legislature accountable to the electorate.
The discussion saw some friendly banter between Chowdhury and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who while moving the Bill recalled that Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, C Rajagopalachari, Rajendra Prasad and B R Ambedkar had opposed full statehood for Delhi during the Constituent Assembly debates, when discussing a report of the Pattabhi Sitaramayya Committee that advised greater autonomy in Delhi’s governance.
In his reply, Chowdhury said it was nice to hear Shah praise Nehru and the Congress. “I thought, what is this I am seeing… Yeh din hai ya raat hai? Main toh socha ki daud ke jayoon aur Amit Shah ke munh main shakkar aur shahad daaloon (Is it day or night? I thought I must rush over and thank Amit Shah).”
To this, Shah immediately intervened and said he had not praised Pandit Nehru and had only quoted what the former prime minister had said. “I have no objection if you want to consider it as praise,” Shah said.
Chowdhury hit back accusing the government of selectively falling back on Nehru. “Had you taken the sahara (support) of Nehru all along… we would not have seen what is happening in Manipur and Haryana,” he said.
Speaking about the NCT Bill, the Congress leader said: “This is Delhi and Delhi is our dil (heart). One day I asked myself what Delhi is. And I got the reply that if sky is the body, then Delhi is its life. So I want to ask, why are you meddling with Delhi. Delhi is not the only state in India. If you keep meddling with Delhi like this… then gradually you will start mounting such attacks on other states as well. If you felt there were scams taking place in Delhi, was it necessary to bring such a Bill? You have with you the ED, CBI… many other forces… Why are you not using all those?”
He said the ordinance itself sidestepped democratic and judicial discussions. “The ordinance was promulgated just six days after the decision of the Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court. The ordinance came into effect just before the summer vacation of the Supreme Court… Why were you in such a hurry?” Chowdhury said.
The Congress leader was referring to the May 11 judgment of the Supreme Court which gave control over services to the Delhi government. On May 19, the Centre promulgated an ordinance to nullify the Supreme Court judgment. The ordinance envisaged creation of a National Capital Civil Service Authority empowered to recommend transfers and postings of all Group A and DANICS officers.
Chowdhury went on to quote the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act passed by Parliament in 1991, and said it had conferred on the Delhi Assembly the power to legislate on all matters in the state as well as concurrent list, except those relating to land, police and public order.
In 2018, he said, the Supreme Court ruled that “although Delhi could not be accorded the status of a state, the concept of federalism would still apply to it”.
“We certainly need to be worried about the federal structure. Because India will be destroyed if the federal structure does not survive,” Chowdhury said.
Contesting the Centre’s argument that Delhi is not a full-fledged state but only a Union territory, “which is an extension of the Union”, he said: “When members come elected, when a Legislative Assembly is constituted of elected members, won’t they have the right to legislate? Will that right be snatched? If you finish off the Legislative Assembly and give all the powers and responsibilities to bureaucrats… bureaucrats will decide how the government will function… will that be right for the country?”
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As per the new Bill envisaging a National Capital Civil Service Authority, Chowdhury said: “The Chief Secretary will take the decisions. If the secretary wants, he can veto. The Supreme Court envisaged a neutral civil service… If you leave everything to bureaucrats, then humhein chunkar yahan aane ki kya zaroorat hai (what is the need for us to fight an election to come here)?”
The Congress leader also objected to the provision (45 J 4) which introduces a new procedure for summoning and proroguing a session of the Assembly. Noting that under the present system, the decision to convene a session is taken by the Cabinet and conveyed to the Governor, Chowdhury said that the new provision says that the proposal for convening the Assembly shall be submitted through the Chief Secretary to the Lieutenant Governor and the Chief Minister for their “opinion”, before issuing the summons.
“Will you accept this, that the bureaucrats decide?” he asked, urging the government not to leave everything to officials. “There is a system of checks and balances in our country. If the system of checks and balances is broken, it will pose a danger to India.”
