Game-changer Delhi bill gets presidential assent

Changes to the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) Act were codified into law on Saturday, putting the control of the city’s administration in the hands of the Centre.

The changes kicked into effect as the President gave assent to the GNCTD (Amendment) Bill, 2023, capping for now a raucous political battle for the Capital’s control that played out in the Supreme Court, involved political parties in the south of the country, before ultimately being decided in Parliament last week.

People aware of the matter said the resolution, while not in the elected government’s favour, will clear the way for some crucial pending matters to be resolved.

All transfers and postings of officers will now be done by the National Capital Civil Services Authority (NCCSA), which is chaired by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and has two senior Delhi government bureaucrats as members; the authority takes decisions by majority and the final decision rests with the lieutenant governor.

Officials aware of the matter said the last scheduled meeting of the NCCSA on July 28 was postponed by CM Arvind Kejriwal because the Union Cabinet had replaced the Ordinance with a Bill, and the Bill was likely to be tabled in Parliament. “Now the CM may be calling the NCCSA meeting immediately because the NCCSA has to consider many important issues. Now that it has become a law, everyone will have to respect the law,” said a Delhi government official, adding that the date of the next meeting has not yet been decided.

According to officials, the NCCSA has to consider five important matters including, the assignment of departments to several officers recently posted to Delhi from outside, transfer of officers from sensitive departments on completing tenure as per CVC guidelines, disciplinary action against officers who made payments relating to advertisements in favour of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to advertising agencies in violation of Supreme Court guidelines, and disciplinary action against senior Delhi Jal Board officers for demolition of listed heritage monument in Kilokari for the construction of a bungalow for a DJB officer.

A second major change that the new law leads to is that appointments in all boards, commissions, and statutory bodies established under Acts passed by Parliament will be done by the central government while the proposals for appointments in boards, commissions, and statutory bodies established by Acts passed by the Delhi assembly will have to be routed through the NCCSA.

A second official who asked not to be named said appointments to be made in boards and commissions will be the next point of tussle between the Centre and the Delhi government. “The posts of chairperson and other positions are vacant in Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR). Some posts are vacant in Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board, and other bodies are vacant which will now be filled according to the laws (Delhi Services Law). According to the law, the NCCSA will recommend a panel of suitable persons for appointment by the LG if such bodies have been constituted under laws made by the Delhi assembly,” said the official.

Representatives of the AAP and the Delhi government did not respond to requests for a comment.

Earlier all these appointments, including the appointment of the chairperson of the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Authority, were done by the elected government.

The control of bureaucrats has been at the core of the Centre and Delhi government’s battles in courts as well as outside since 2015 when AAP stormed to power. A May 11 Supreme Court judgement placed the control of services in the hands of the elected government. On May 19, an ordinance by the Union government snatched back the control.

The NCCSA is chaired by CM Arvind Kejriwal and has chief secretary as member and principal secretary home as member secretary. The two bureaucrats are appointed by the Centre.

The proposed law lays down that the NCCSA can take decisions with a majority which means that the two Centre-appointed bureaucrats can overrule the CM, and in case of a difference of opinion the decision of the LG will be final.

An official said in the NCCSA, the chief minister only has the power to approve the convening of the meeting of the services authority. “The authority shall meet at such time and place as the member secretary (principal secretary home) may decide with approval of the chairperson as and when so required,” the legislation says.

The law mentions that secretaries can bring to the notice of the LG decisions of the elected government if they find that they are not in accordance with the provisions of any law. “In case the secretary to the council of ministers thinks that the proposal considered and decided by the council of ministers is not as per the provisions of any law, the secretary can bring it to the notice of the LG for taking a decision thereon,” said an official.

A separate official, however, said that the provision existed earlier as well.

The bill also lays down that the opinion of the LG is needed for summoning of the Delhi assembly, prorogation and dissolution.

An official aware of the development said that the approval of the LG is currently needed for summoning of the assembly only if the assembly has been prorogued (the ongoing session of the assembly has ended) and also for the dissolution of the assembly. “But if the assembly has not been prorogued, the Speaker has the power to convene the assembly session on the request of the Delhi government without taking the opinion of the LG,” said the official.

No response was available from the LG office on the impact of this.

An official in the LG office said that Saxena has approved the proposed portfolio reshuffle in Kejriwal’s cabinet, and had allocated the portfolios of services and vigilance to minister Atishi as proposed by the CM on August 8. A formal notification of the portfolio change by the General Administration Department was awaited till Saturday evening.