AAP lawmaker wants assemblies power to impeach governors

Aam Aadmi Party legislator Adarsh Shastri on Tuesday demanded that a resolution be passed in the Delhi 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 in the Delhi assembly during a two-day special session called to discuss the union home ministry notification curbing the Delhi government's powers.

Delhi government officials told IANS that Shastri's demand for amendment to the Constitution was being misinterpreted by some sections as a resolution for "powers to impeach the lt. governor". "There is no resolution," said the official.

Shastri, too, confirmed this to IANS. "I had spoken in my individual capacity as an MLA" of the Aam Aadmi Party, he said.

The home ministry on May 21 issued a notification that public order, land, police and services in Delhi National Capital Territory were under the jurisdiction of the lt. governor.

The notification was issued following the ongoing tussle between the AAP government and Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung over the appointment and transfer of bureaucrats. Both had also approached the President.