The Delhi government led by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), is chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is staring at a bigger loss, during his tussle with the Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung. As per the latest notification by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Anti-Corruption Branch of the Delhi government has been barred from registering any cases against the officers and political leaders of the central government. This effectively puts ACB under the control of the L-G.
“The ACB is a small offshoot of the NCT and it can book cases only against Delhi officials and not against officials of central government or officials of state government. That is why the central government issued the notification as a clarification. The Delhi government can’t use this tool to book central government officials, central ministers or corporate leaders belonging to other states on anti-corruption charges. Its jurisdiction is limited to Delhi alone,” S K Sharma, former secretary of Delhi Assembly, said.
“Citing the MHA notification, the L-G in his next move may also take control of the ACB, justifying that he being a representative of the President of India and administrator of the Government of the NCT of Delhi, has full control over law & order and police, and this anti-corruption body is a part of Delhi Police,"a senior government official said.
An AAP MLA told, "The Home Ministry’s notification is not only unconstitutional but illegal as well. It’s an attempt to give absolute power to the L-G. The notification is an insult to Delhi public, who elected us to form a government in Delhi with a huge mandate.” He added, "We may move a resolution against the MHA’s notification during the two-day ‘emergency session’ of the Assembly. The government is also exploring the legal option against the notification. In this emergency session, deliberations will be on the Home Ministry’s notification and issues related to sharing of power between the elected government and the L-G.”
Delhi’s Deputy CM Manish Sisodia told, “We’ve ended corruption in government departments in just three months. But, the L-G failed to control corruption during the President’s rule in Delhi and now he wants to usurp the authority. Except land, law & order and police, the rest of the departments are with the Delhi government. It’s a conspiracy of the Centre against us and through muscle-flexing it wants to gag us. The Centre is trying to have control over Delhi by violating the nation’s federal system but, we won’t let it happen.”
By Premji
