Delhi services bill in no way violates the Supreme Court judgment, Home Minister Amit Shah said in Rajya Sabha this evening. The opposition tried to block Mr Shah’s address twice for allegedly using unparliamentary words but were ruled our by the Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar both times.
“Delhi Services Bill in no way violates Supreme Court judgment. The bill aimed at effective, corruption-free governance in the national capital,” he insisted.
His statement came hours after he moved the bill for passage in the House after opposition members moved a resolution disapproving the ordinance brought by the government in May this year.
The Home Minister also claimed that the bill was first brought by the Congress when it was in power. “I want to assure that none of the provisions of the bill are changed from what it was in the Congress regime,” he said.
He also accused the Congress of appeasing the Aam Aadmi Party by “opposing the bill it itself brought”. “They are now sitting in AAP’s lap,” Mr Shah said amid huge uproar by the opposition in the parliament.
Mr Shah said the “AAP government in Delhi transferred officers in vigilance dept as liquor scam files were with it”.
The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023 was passed by Lok Sabha last week after a walkout by members of opposition bloc INDIA.
The bill empowers the Central Government to make rules in connection with the affairs of the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, including the functions, terms, and other conditions of service of officers and employees.
It was brought in by the Centre on May 19, a week after the Supreme Court handed over the control of services in Delhi excluding police, public order and land to the elected government, headed by Arvind Kejriwal of the AAP.
Earlier in the day, AAP leader Raghav Chadha said in Rajya Sabha that bill is a “political fraud” and “constitutional sin” aimed at taking away the powers of an elected government in the national capital.
He also appealed to the non-NDA parties to support AAP in the House against the bill.
