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LG questions legality of DDCA probe, Kejriwal hits back

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Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung with chief minister Arvind Kejriwal (Photo: PTI/File)

Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung with chief minister Arvind Kejriwal (Photo: PTI/File)

New Delhi: Seeking Centre’s intervention, LG Najeeb Jung has questioned the legality of appointment of inquiry by Arvind Kejriwal Government to probe DDCA issue, triggering a new round of confrontation with the Chief Minister who said the matter was out of the LG’s purview.

“In a communication to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the LG has stated that the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952 empowers only the Centre and state governments to appoint a commission of inquiry. Since, Delhi is a Union Territory, a commission of inquiry may be ordered only with the concurrence of the Centre, through the LG,” sources said.

“Also, the funding for the DDCA comes not only from Delhi but also other states and hence it is not just Delhi Government’s jurisdiction to conduct a probe,” they added.

The LG is also believed to have cited that the inquiry into the CNG fitness kit scam set up by the Kejriwal government earlier was set aside by the Centre on the same ground.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, however, has claimed that the action amounts to “unjustified interference” as the inquiry is “perfectly” legal and Union Minister Arun Jaitley should cooperate with the inquiry commission and stop “misusing” the LG office.

“We are not scared when all the agencies under them including police CBI, DRI are after us, why are they scared with one commission of enquiry,” he added.

Kejriwal also maintained that the Transaction Business Rules (TBR) clarify that this file is not needed to be sent to LG for clearance, tersely adding “he is not a dictator”.

“According to the Constitution, LG has three subjects under him- police, public order and land. According to the TBR, no other file should go to LG for clearance, he is not a dictator,” Kejriwal said.

“The rule says that the commission of enquiry can be instituted by the Cabinet and Legislative Assembly, they are empowered to do so. Raising objections to this is politics to save those who are corrupt,” he said on sidelines of an event.

“Jaitley should cooperate with the commission of enquiry and stop misusing the LG house. I also hope that Rajnath Singh will not try to shield him by obstructing the probe,” he said.

(Agencies)

Arvind Kejriwal calls Delhi L-G Jung ‘polling’ agent of BJP

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Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal tore into lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung and the BJP-led Centre, calling Jung a “polling agent of the BJP, who has turned Raj Niwas into BJP headquarters”.

In one of his sharpest attacks on the L-G and the Centre, Kejriwal also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being vengeful against the government and people of Delhi for the BJP’s defeat in the Delhi assembly polls.

“People of Delhi have voted for us and the rest of the country supported Modi. So, please let us run Delhi and you (Modi) run the country. Don’t create trouble for us everyday through the L-G. This is not being a good PM. Taking revenge for losing Delhi from the people and AAP is not right,” he told a news channel in an interview.

The Delhi CM said Jung does not give time even to deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia or other ministers for a meeting or take his calls. “But if the ‘chowkidar’ (watchman) of (BJP president) Amit Shah calls him (L-G), he will crawl and go,” Kejriwal said.

He said the Centre was trying to corner the Delhi government “using the L-G”. “PM Modi should know I am not Rahul Gandhi… won’t let him run my state,” he said.

He also alleged that the BJP was feeling insecure after the defeat in Delhi polls. “If we replicate our success (of winning 67 out of 70 seats) elsewhere, it will be a big problem for the BJP,” he said. The CM said Jung’s actions are exposing Modi because people are accusing the Prime Minister for the fight between the L-G and Kejriwal government.

He dared the prime minister and the Union home ministry to move court over the transfer and posting of officials, which has been a bone of contention between the Delhi government and the Centre.

When asked why did he lock out one of his senior officials recently, Kejriwal said it was done to prevent the official from doing something “illegal at the behest of the L-G”.

The BJP, meanwhile, strongly criticised Kejriwal for his comments. “He has a habit of using unparliamentary language against constitutional authorities… People have a problem when he is called an anarchist but he behaves like one,” said Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay.

(Agencies)

Delhi government challenges Centre’s notification on LG’s powers

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Najeeb Jung Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi: The AAP government on Thursday moved the Delhi High Court challenging the Centre’s recent notification giving the Lieutenant Governor absolute powers in appointing bureaucrats in the national capital.

The petition was mentioned before a bench of justices B.D. Ahmed and Sanjeev Sachdeva, saying, “The Delhi government has decided to move against the Ministry of Home Affairs’ (MHA’s) May 21 notification.”

“As per the notification, the LG would have jurisdiction over matters connected with services, public orders, police and land, and…services of bureaucrats…allowing him discretionary powers to seek the opinion of the CM,” it said.

The petition was mentioned by Delhi government standing counsel Raman Duggal a day after the Centre moved the Supreme Court challenging an order of the Delhi HC which termed as “suspect” MHA’s recent notification barring the city government’s Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) from acting against its officers in criminal offences.

The HC had also held that the LG cannot act in his discretion.

Mr. Duggal also said that he has challenged all notifications issued by the Centre in the past. The bench has listed the matter for hearing on Friday.

The Delhi government, led by the Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, has also challenged the appointment of Shakuntala Gamlin as acting Chief Secretary by the LG.

LG meets Union Home Secretary

Meanwhile, Delhi LG Najeeb Jung met Union Home Secretary L.C. Goyal on Thursday, amidst the ongoing tussle between him and the AAP government.

The meeting came a day after the Delhi Assembly passed a resolution rejecting the Home Ministry notification giving absolute powers to the LG in several matters, including transfer and postings of senior bureaucrats.

After the meeting with the Home Secretary, the LG refused to speak to media persons.

Sources said they discussed the issue of Wednesday’s resolution passed by the Delhi Assembly and the government’s stand in the apex court with regard to the SLP.

(PTI)

AAP tears into Centre's notification, right to impeach LG sought

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AAP

New Delhi: A resolution against the Centre’s decree giving Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung the final say in transfers and postings of bureaucrats was moved on Tuesday in the Delhi assembly while an AAP lawmaker demanded that state legislatures should have the power to impeach governors.

Buoyed by the Delhi High Court’s observation that the lt. governor must act on the advice of the council of ministers, Aam Aadmi Party legislators took turns to criticise the Narendra Modi government’s order giving Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung the final say in matters pertaining to services, police, law and order.

The May 21 notification had also stripped Delhi’s Anti Corruption Branch of its power to act against central government employees.

On the first day of the two-day special session of the assembly called by the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government to discuss the home ministry’s notification, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia moved the resolution, saying the Centre had encroached upon the rights of the Delhi assembly.

“It (notification) is encroachment on the rights of the legislative assembly of Delhi. They (central government) have tried to dilute the spirit of the Constitution,” Sisodia told the assembly.

He said the BJP-led government at the Centre was “unconstitutionally trying to impose President’s Rule in Delhi”.

“This government has taken corruption head-on and achieved unprecedented success. The Centre is trying to thwart Delhi government’s attempts,” Sisodia added.

Taking the tussle with Jung a notch higher, AAP legislator Adarsh Shashtri demanded that a resolution be passed in the assembly to amend the Constitution to enable state legislatures to impeach governors and Lt. Governors.

“We should pass a resolution asking parliament to review the recommendations of the Sarkaria Commission and the articles 155 and 156 of the Constitution to allow state legislatures to have the power to impeach governors and Lt. Governors,” Shastri said.

AAP lawmaker Somnath Bharti moved a private member’s resolution against the union home ministry’s notification. The house will take up the resolution on Wednesday and it is likely to be passed.

The resolution moved by Bharti contended that the May 21 central notification was “contrary to and violative of the provisions of the Constitution of India”.

“This house finds this act of the ministry of home affairs as an attempt on the part of the central government to encroach upon the legislative powers of this august house conferred by the Constitution.”

The notification was issued following the ongoing tussle between the AAP government and Lt. Governor Jung over the appointment and transfer of bureaucrats. Both also approached President Pranab Mukherjee to seek his intervention for a resolution of the issue.

Meanwhile, BJP member O.P. Sharma was marshalled out of the assembly after he made critical remarks against Speaker Ram Niwas Goel.

(Agencies)

HC vindicates AAP government in dispute with centre

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Kejriwal has described the Centre’s stand as perfidy and a blatant attempt to provide cover to corrupt officials. He has also said he will challenge the Centre’s notification in court.

arvind-najeeb

New Delhi: In the midst of a dispute with the Centre, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has received vindication in court.

The anti-corruption branch of Delhi, which comes under Delhi Police, must take its orders from Kejriwal’s government and not the Centre, the Delhi High Court said on 25 May.

The judge also said that Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Najeeb Jung is “bound to act upon the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers”.

“Today’s judgement is a huge embarassment for the central govt, (sic),” jubilant Kejriwal tweeted.

Last week, the Centre said its officers could not be probed by the ACB, Delhi because it doesn’t have the right to intervene in matters of land, the Delhi Police, or the appointments of key bureaucrats.

The Centre also said the LG, who acts as its representative in Delhi, is not obliged to consult Kejriwal on these issues.

Kejriwal has described the Centre’s stand as perfidy and a blatant attempt to provide cover to corrupt officials. He has also said he will challenge the Centre’s notification in court.

The clash between the Centre and Kejriwal is over how their powers are divided in Delhi’s administration, a union territory.

Earlier in the day, in a maverick move, he summoned a cabinet meeting at a city public park and sought the attendance of the “aam aadmi” or common man that his party is named after.

Kejriwal lashes out at MHA notification, says Modi govt trying to run Delhi through backdoor

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Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi: After being issued a notification from the Home Ministry detailing just what powers he actually had, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal hit back alleging that the notification was an attempt to protect the corrupt and that the Narendra Modi government was trying to run the Delhi government through the Lieutenant-Governor.

The Delhi chief minister called the Centre’s notification “a gift from the Modi government for completing a year in office” and clarifying his relationship with the Lieutenant Governor, Kejriwal said “Jung saab ke saath koi Jung nahi hai” (There is no war with Jung).

However, he said that Lieutenant Governor has no actual powers as all his orders come from the top.

“Pre independence, Queen of England used to send notifications to the Viceroy here. Now, Jung Sahab is Viceroy & PMO is London. All orders come from the PMO,” Kejriwal said.

Continuing his attack on the Modi government, he went on to state that the notification proved that Modi with his 3 BJP MLA’s is trying to control the Delhi government through the backdoor.

“The BJP and Congress want to have their own officers in Delhi and get government contracts for their own people,” he alleged.

The Centre on Friday morning issued a notification which backed Jung and said that it was not mandatory for the Lieutenant Governor to consult the Chief Minister.

Kejriwal alleged that issuing the notification was very ‘unfair’ towards the people of Delhi, and said that the AAP government is doing very good work.

“We want to ask the Narendra Modi government, who are they trying to save through this notification?” he said

Kejriwal alleged that the government is rattled by the action taken by the Delhi government against corrupt officers and was attempting to protect corrupt officials by issuing the notification.

“They are saying that we can’t take any action against corrupt official in the central government,” he said.

Shifting his focus on Najeeb Jung, Kejriwal said, “The Lieutenant Governor has never asked about water or electricity, all they are interested in is transfer posting.”

He also added that it is because of the AAP government that a lot of money being paid for transfers has ended, a statement his deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia had made earlier.

“Probably the AAP government is one of the cleanest governments Delhi has ever seen,” Kejriwal said.

(Agencies)

Allow city govt to function independently: Kejriwal to Modi

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kejriwal_modi

New Delhi: Taking his fight against the LG to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today asked him to allow the city government to function “independently” even as he accused the Centre of trying to run the Delhi administration.

In a letter to Modi, Kejriwal mentioned the posting and transfers made by Lt Governor Najeeb Jung and said the elected government must have a say about distribution of work to senior officials.

“In Delhi, Central government is trying to run government unconstitutionally through the Lt Governor. Let Delhi government function independently,” Kejriwal said in the letter to Modi.

The letter by Kejriwal to the Prime Minister came a day after both he and Jung took their bitter fight to President Pranab Mukherjee, accusing each other of violating the Constitution and overstepping their respective jurisdictions.

The Lt Governor has been maintaining that he has the power to appoint and transfer the bureaucrats and none of his actions has been “unconstitutional” as was being alleged by the AAP government.

Kejriwal had yesterday met Mukherjee along with his deputy Manish Sisodia, who said “LG was functioning as if there is President’s Rule in the national capital and there is no elected government here.”

“Despite having a democratically elected government, he (LG) is bypassing the chief minister and ministers and issuing instructions to officers. He is even threatening them with transfers if they do not follow his orders. It is not good for democracy.

“We told the President that we accepted LG’s decision to appoint acting Chief Secretary even without consulting us. But after that too, he has been appointing officers bypassing the elected government.

He is even interfering in the appointments of secretaries and directly ordering them. Then where is democracy,” Sisodia had told reporters after meeting Mukherjee.

Jung had yesterday also met Home Minister Rajnath Singh on the issue and informed him about his stand-off with the AAP government.

The tussle over appointment of Shakuntala Gamlin as acting chief secretary of Delhi had turned into a full-blown war between the AAP government and Jung with Kejriwal alleging that the LG was trying to take over the administration.

Despite Kejriwal’s strong opposition, Jung had appointed her to the post on Friday.

(PTI)

Yadav, Bhushan support Kejriwal in tussle with Delhi Lieutenant Governor

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Photo: Arvind Yadav, HT

Photo: Arvind Yadav, HT

New Delhi: Swaraj Abhiyan, a group formed by ousted AAP leaders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan, came out in support of Delhi dispensation in its tussle with Lt Governor Najeeb Jung over appointments, saying the choice of a democratically elected government should be respected.

It, however, condemned dragging of bureaucracy in the “petty” political fight.

“In principle, Swaraj Abhiyan believes that the choice of a democratically elected government should be respected by Delhi’s Lieutenant-Governor. But the politics of personal allegations, brinkmanship and dragging of the bureaucracy into petty political fights is unfortunate.

“Swaraj Abhiyan condemns it and believes that such a culture is not conducive to the health of democracy,” a statement from the group said.

The Delhi government has locked horns in a power tussle with Lt Govenor Najeeb Jung over appointment of Shakuntala Gamlin as acting Chief Secretary, which was opposed by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

The group also supported the AAP’s stand for full statehood to Delhi.

“Swaraj Abhiyan considers the demand for full statehood to Delhi as a genuine one. Parties like Congress and BJP have been adopting double standards and fooling the people on a critical issue. In the spirit of the democracy and benefit of citizens, we believe that important government decisions should always be taken with the elected government in confidence,” it said.

Swaraj Abhiyan hopes that both the sides show maturity, rise above ego-clash and petty political fights in order to break the deadlock so that the people of Delhi do not have to suffer, it added.

Just before Yadav and Bhushan were ousted from AAP last month, along with Anand Kumar and Ajit Jha, the rebel leaders organised an convention called Swaraj Samvad, which was followed by formation of the group called Swaraj Abhiyan.

(Agencies)

AAP government again at loggerheads with Lieutenant Governor over Chief Secretary appointment

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Najeeb Jung Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi: The Delhi government, headed by Arvind Kejriwal, has landed in fresh controversy by taking on Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung. Today, in a press release, the government accused Mr Jung of bypassing it and unconstitutionally appointing senior bureaucrat Shakuntala Gamlin as the acting Chief Secretary of the Delhi Government. The Governor has defended his decision.

Chief Secretary KK Sharma in currently on leave and Mr Jung made the appointment today after Ms Gamlin wrote a scathing letter to Jung claiming that she was pressurised by a senior bureaucrat in CM’s office not to be in race for the post due to her alleged proximity to BSES discoms, reported news agency Press Trust of India.

In its statement, the government said there were reservations about Ms Gamlin. “She was perceived to be extremely close to electricity companies in Delhi and was lobbying for their interests within the Government,” read the release from the Directorate of Information and Publicity.

But the Lieutenant Governor, it went on to add, appointed Ms Gamlin “in a completely unconstitutional manner”.

Within hours, Mr Jung’s office responded, saying the LG was authorised by the Constitution to make appointments in consultation with the Chief Minister.

In this case, the Governor approved the name of Ms Gamlin against the name proposed by the Chief Minister as “she was senior and has a proven track record”, said the statement.

The file containing the Governor’s advice was pending in the Chief Minister’s office for 36 hours, after which the appointment was made “since the office of the Chief Secretary cannot be left inordinately vacant,” the statement read.

The fresh controversy comes days as the party puts behind a month-long internal feud that ended with the expulsion of founder members Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav. The acrimony had been bitter and public, marked by comments on social media and media conferences from both sides.

“Mr Kejriwal and his colleagues need to understand that there is a constitutional mandate by which a government runs,” said BJP leader Nalin Kohli.

(Agencies)

Delhi government formation: Najeeb Jung invites parties for talks to end political uncertainty

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najeeb_jung

New Delhi: Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung Monday invited BJP, Congress and AAP for talks, kick-starting fresh efforts to install an elected government and will take a final decision soon to end the eight-month-long political uncertainty in Delhi.

Sources in LG’s office said a “final decision” on the political situation is likely to be taken at the earliest based on views of the three political parties.

Jung first invited BJP for talks on whether it is interested in taking a shot at the power, being the single largest party in the Assembly.

Sources in BJP said the dominant view in the party is that it should go for polls and not take power by “manipulation” as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rating was still going “high” and enthusiasm among the party workers has increased following victories in assembly elections in Maharashtra and Haryana.

“We are preferring elections. There is little possibility of the party forming a government in Delhi,” a senior Delhi BJP leader told PTI, adding a final decision on the issue will be taken by the top leadership in a day or two.

Earlier, Delhi BJP Chief Satish Upadhyay and Union Minister Harsh Vardhan called on Jung. The meeting was described by the party as “informal”.

The Lt. Governor also invited AAP and Congress for talks on government formation although both the parties have been demanding fresh election and accused him of acting at the behest of BJP.

Both Congress and AAP have been maintaining that they were fully ready for fresh elections and accused BJP of running away from polls for “fear of defeat”.

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