Only 1 bill withheld by Prez; Centre counters AAP govt's claim

Peeved over a campaign against it by AAP, the Centre today dismissed the suggestion that it has withheld 14 bills sent by the Delhi government, saying just one legislation was rejected by the President.
A senior Home Ministry official said Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung had "reserved" 11 bills passed by the Delhi Assembly and sent to the central government for Presidential approval.
Of these, only one Bill, a legislation that sought to protect 21 Aam Aadmi Party MLAs, who have been appointed Parliamentary Secretaries, from disqualification for holding office of profit, was withheld by the President.
Two bills -- Minimum Wages (Delhi Amendment) Bill 2015 and a bill to upgrade the Netaji Subhash Institute of Technology to a state university -- were sent back to the Delhi government for further clarifications.

Six other bills were received by the Home Ministry on April 1, 2015. One bill was received in December 2015 and another in August 2015.
"Of all the 11 bills, only two bills are under considerations for more than six months," the officer said.

The officer explained that since Delhi is a Union Territory, any bill it wants to adopt in the assembly has to be first sent to the central government for approval.
If the nod is given, only then can it be moved for legislative approval.
When the assembly passes the bill, then it has to go to the Lieutenant Governor and again to the central government for Presidential assent.

In most of the bills, the Delhi government did not take prior approval from the central government and straightway passed them in the assembly.
Since proper procedures were not followed, the Home Ministry is bound to examine thoroughly all bills before taking a view, the official said.
The bills in contention include Delhi School (Verification Of Accounts and Refund of Excess Fee) Bill 2015, Delhi School Education (Amendment) Bill 2015, Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Delhi Amendment) Bill 2015 and a bill related to working journalists.
The AAP government has launched a media campaign saying the central government has withheld approvals to 14 bills passed by the Delhi Assembly and a few of them are more than six months old.