BJP 'welcomes' Centre's ordinance on control of services in Delhi

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday welcomed the ordinance brought by the central government regarding the transfer, posting, vigilance and other incidental matters in the national capital.

As per the party statement, Delhi is the capital of the country, the whole of India has the right over it and for quite some time the administrative dignity of Delhi has been hurt by the Arvind Kejriwal government.

"The corruption of this government has also embarrassed Delhi a lot and now in the last week, the way the Arvind Kejriwal government tried to defame Delhi's administration and do arbitrariness in these circumstances the Bharatiya Janata Party welcomes the ordinance brought by the central government," read an official statement from the BJP.

"Ambassadors of every country of the world live in Delhi and whatever administrative mishappenings happen here, the dignity of India gets tarnished all over the world as well," the statement said.

The Union government on Friday brought an ordinance to notify rules for the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) regarding the "transfer posting, vigilance and other incidental matters."

The ordinance has been brought to amend the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991 and it circumvents the SC judgement in the Centre vs Delhi case.

The Ministry of Law and Justice stated in the notification, "In view of its special status as a national capital, a scheme of administration has to be formulated by Parliamentary law, to balance both local and national democratic interests which are at stake, which would reflect the aspirations of the people through joint and collective responsibility of both the Government of India and the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (hereinafter referred to as GNCTD)".

An ordinance has been passed by the Centre to constitute 'National Capital Civil Services Authority' (NCCSA) in Delhi. This comprises Delhi CM, Chief Secretary and Home Secretary of Delhi government. They will now make recommendations to the Lieutenant Governor on the transfer and posting of Group 'A' officers and DANICS officers serving in Delhi government.

"With a view to give effect to the intent and purpose behind the provisions of Article 239AA, a permanent authority headed by the democratically elected Chief Minister of Delhi along with Chief Secretary, GNCTD the head of the administration representing the will of the officers of GNCTD and the Principal Secretary Home, GNCTD is being introduced to make recommendations to the Lieutenant Governor regarding matters concerning transfer posting, vigilance and other incidental matters," the notification stated.

However, in case of a clash, between NCCSA and LG, the decision of the LG "shall be final."

Notably, this comes days after a Constitution bench of the Supreme Court, in a unanimous verdict, said that the Delhi government must have control over services, and the Lieutenant Governor is bound by its decision.