Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal. (File photo: Twitter/@ArvindKejriwal)
Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said the ordinance was brought in to ensure “transparency and accountability”.
The BJP on Saturday defended the ordinance on transfer and posting of government officials in Delhi as a step in line with the Constitution and the Supreme Court’s observations in the matter, saying it was also in the interest of the common man.
BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia launched a scathing attack on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal after he slammed the Center for bringing the ordinance, which seeks to nullify the apex court’s order giving power over officials to the elected government, saying his ideology It is against the constitution and is chaotic.
Citing a Constitution Bench judgement, Bhatia said it had said that if “Parliament makes a law conferring executive power on any subject”, the power of the Lieutenant Governor can be modified accordingly.
Claiming that the ordinance, which has to be approved by Parliament within six months, is in the public interest, he accused the Kejriwal government of suppressing facts related to the “liquor scam” and harassing and intimidating the official for alleged irregularities in expenditure on Mukhiya. Accused of. Minister’s residence
“You neither read the Constitution nor the Supreme Court judgement. You think whatever tyrant Arvind Kejriwal says is above the constitution of the country,” Bhatia said at a press conference.
Noting that Delhi is a Union Territory, he invoked Article 239AA to assert Parliament’s power over the territory. Delhi is not an “Arvind zone” and it will be run by the Constitution and not by their whims, the BJP leader, also a lawyer, said.
Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said the ordinance was brought in to ensure “transparency and accountability”.
“We had to bring the ordinance because within days of the Supreme Court verdict, the Delhi government started flexing its muscles. It transferred 2010 batch IAS officer YK Rajasekhar, who was probing irregularities at the Sheesh Mahal.
The reference was to the alleged heavy expenditure for the renovation of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s official residence.
Prasad said the Supreme Court had cited the absence of any specific law regarding administration in Delhi under Schedule II of the Constitution.
Highlighting the AAP leader’s claim that the Center has deliberately brought the ordinance at a time when the Supreme Court is on summer vacation so that the legal challenge cannot be moved quickly, Bhatia said a vacation bench exists.
He challenged the Delhi government to take steps against the ordinance at the earliest to test the legal and constitutional validity of the ordinance.
Earlier, Kejriwal said, ‘The ordinance of the Center on the matter of services is unconstitutional and against democracy. We will approach the Supreme Court against this. Hours after the apex court closed for a holiday, the Center brought in an ordinance to overturn the Supreme Court’s decision on the services matter. He alleged that this is a direct contempt of the apex court.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI,