Why is AAP at loggerheads with Centre over ‘services’ ordinance in Delhi?

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) staged ‘Maha Rally’ at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan Sunday (11 June) against the Centre’s ordinance on control of services in the National Capital. Addressing the gathering, Delhi chief minister and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal warned similar ordinances will be brought in other states. “There will be a dictatorship in Delhi and the LG (Lieutenant Governor) is supreme. People can vote for whoever they want, but the Centre will run Delhi”, he told the rally.

“Don’t think that this is happening only to Delhi. I have heard they are planning to bring a similar ordinance for the rest of the country as well. An ordinance like the one for Delhi is like the declaration of dictatorship. It will be brought in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh,” Kejriwal was quoted as saying by Indian Express.

#AAPKiMahaRally pic.twitter.com/vL3ZjuMVBc

— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) June 11, 2023

After the AAP leader’s barbs, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) retaliated by calling the Delhi chief minister “corrupt and useless”.

So, why is the AAP-led Delhi government up in arms against the Central government over the services ordinance? We explain.

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What does the Centre’s ordinance say?

Days after the Supreme Court granted the power to the Delhi government to administer civil services in the National Capital in early May, the BJP-led Centre introduced an ordinance apparently nullifying the order.

The apex court’s verdict had limited the power of the Lieutenant Governor over services related to three areas such as public order, police and land.

However, the President promulgated the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023 on 19 May.

Under the ordinance, a “permanent” National Capital Civil Service Authority (NCCSA) will be set up, with the Delhi chief minister as chairperson, and Chief Secretary and Principal Home Secretary as the other members.

This authority will make “recommendations” to the LG – an arm of the Centre – regarding “transfer posting, vigilance and other incidental matters.”

According to The Hindu, the NCCSA will have the authority to take decisions on transfers, postings, disciplinary proceedings, prosecution sanctions, vigilance issues, etc of civil service officers working in all Delhi government departments, except public order, police and land.

The Centre stated that the aim of the ordinance is to “provide for a comprehensive scheme of administration of services” which “balances the local and domestic interests of the people of Delhi with the democratic will of the entire nation reflected through the President of India”.

Who takes the final decision?

Here is how the ordinance reverses the Supreme Court’s 11 May ruling which vested the power to control the civil services with the Delhi government.

In a unanimous verdict, a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud had said: “If a democratically elected government is not provided with the power to control the officers posted within its domain, then the principle underlying the triple-chain of collective responsibility would become redundant. That is to say, if the government is not able to control and hold to account the officers posted in its service, then its responsibility towards the legislature as well as the public is diluted”.

With the ordinance, the Centre puts the LG back in the driver’s seat over the decision regarding services. This was previously done by the BJP-led Central government through a Union home ministry notification in 2015 and has since been an apple of discord between the Centre and the AAP government in Delhi.

According to the recent ordinance, the decision on transfers, posting, etc, of bureaucrats can be taken through a majority of votes by the NCCSA members present and voting. Simply put, Chief Secretary and Home Secretary could potentially make a decision, even if the chief minister is not present at the meeting, provided the official quorum is met, as per India Today.

If there is a difference of opinion, the LG will take the final call.

In case the LG disagrees with the recommendation, they would be empowered to “return the recommendation to the Authority for reconsideration”. “The Lieutenant Governor, before passing appropriate orders on such recommendation, may ask for any relevant material regarding the Group ‘A’ officers, including the officers of the All India Services and DANICS, serving in the affairs of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD),” India Today cited the ordinance as saying.

Still, if the difference of opinion persists, then “the decision of the Lieutenant Governor shall be final.”

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What will AAP do now?

Calling the ordinance “unconstitutional” and a “case of contempt of court”, the AAP said in May it plans to challenge the Centre’s decision in the Supreme Court.

As per The Hindu, if the ordinance is challenged, the Central government would have to prove the “extraordinary or emergent situation” that called for the promulgation of the ordinance just days after the apex court settled the control of services case.

Meanwhile, the NDA government in the Centre will have to introduce a bill before the Parliament to ratify the ordinance and amend the GNCTD Act, noted India Today.

Over the last month, Kejriwal has met several non-BJP chief ministers and leaders to garner support against what the AAP has termed the “dictatorial ordinance” in Rajya Sabha. He has met West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sharad Pawar and Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav.

However, the AAP has so far been unable to get the Congress on board to support it in Parliament over the ordinance.

With inputs from agencies 

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