Delhi: Political history
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Twenty-one notices were received for private members' resolutions and two days were earmarked for taking up of the same. | Twenty-one notices were received for private members' resolutions and two days were earmarked for taking up of the same. | ||
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| + | =2015-2018: AAP’s fortunes and the OOP case= | ||
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| + | [[File: 2015-2018, AAP’s changing fortunes and the parliamentary secretaries, OOP case.jpg|2015-2018, AAP’s changing fortunes and the parliamentary secretaries, OOP case <br/> From: [https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=TOIDEL%2F2018%2F01%2F20&entity=Ar00312&sk=5A8506C2&mode=text Bharti.Jain, January 20, 2018: ''The Times of India'']|frame|500px]] | ||
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Revision as of 05:32, 21 January 2018
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Contents |
The water tanker purchase of Rs 400-cr/ 2012
Rajshekhar Jha, Water tanker `scam', a Rs 400-cr saga , May 8, 2017: The Times of India
Case Dates Back To 2012; FIR By ACB In 2016 Named Both Dikshit & AAP Govts
The alleged water tanker procurement scam dates back to 2012 when Delhi Jal Board, with the then CM, Sheila Dikshit, as its chairperson, awarded tenders for hiring 385 stainless steel tankers from private companies.
However, the FIR filed by Anti-Corrpution Branch (ACB) in June 2016 mentions both the Dikshit regime as well as the Kejriwal-led AAP government on the basis of two complaints.
On June 19, 2015, the AAP government set up a fact-finding committee on the tanker deal which, in its report submitted in August, alleged a scam of Rs 400 crore. The committee found that a consultant had been appointed arbitrarily on nomination basis, causing a loss of Rs 36.5 crore to the exchequer. Though the tender of a company was rejected on the ground that it was the only application, work was awarded later to another company on the basis of a single tender.The committee said the work was given at higher rates compared to the rates quoted by another firm at Rs 323.9 crore.
After the report was submitted, the then DJB chairperson, Mishra, wrote to CM Kejriwal, asking for an FIR to be lodged against those involved in the scam.
On June 16, 2016, the then LG, Najeeb Jung, forwarded the report to ACB for appropriate action after leader of opposition Vijender Gupta wrote to him deman ding a probe against Kejriwal as well for not scrapping the contract. Soon, ACB of the Delhi government registered the FIR on the basis of Mishra's report as well as the complaint given by Gupta.
The FIR was registered under Section 13 (1D) -misuse of power -of Prevention of Corruption Act, along with two sections of IPC-Sections 120B and 409. While IPC 120B refers to hatching a criminal conspiracy , Section 409 deals with criminal breach of trust by a public servant.
Thereafter, ACB questioned Mishra on the report submitted by him. In July 2016, it sent a notice to Dikshit. ACB also questioned the members of the fact-finding committee to understand how they conducted the inquiry and arrived at the figure as the loss of revenue due to the alleged scam. In August, it finally examined Dikshit. A four-member team went to her home and handed her a list of 18 questions for written replies.
Constituencies
Rajouri Garden
2013-2017: how top 3 parties fared
See graphic:
How top three parties fared, Rajouri Garden, New Delhi
Voters
Voters, by age and gender, 2017, ’18
From: January 13, 2018: The Times of India
See graphic:
Voters in Delhi, by age and gender, 2017-18
2015
Winter session longest in history
The Times of India, Dec 06 2015
2015 winter session longest in history
The Delhi Assembly's winter session that concluded on Friday was the longest in the history of the legislature here in which 11 sittings of the house were held and business conducted for 43.30 hours against the scheduled 38.30 hours, speaker Ram Niwas Goel said. The house in session saw the introduction and passage of 15 Bills, including the “historic“ Janlokpal Bill. A total of 253 question notices were rece ived while 244 notices for special mention and 42 notices for short duration discussions were also received during the sittings, Goel said.
Issues like increasing pollution in Delhi and shortage of night shelters were also raised through 42 calling attention motions in the house.
Twenty-one notices were received for private members' resolutions and two days were earmarked for taking up of the same.
2015-2018: AAP’s fortunes and the OOP case
See graphic:
2015-2018, AAP’s changing fortunes and the parliamentary secretaries, OOP case
From: Bharti.Jain, January 20, 2018: The Times of India
2016
Office of profit issue
The AAP government was elected in February 2015 with a brute majority of 67 seats in an assembly of 70. BJP had just three MLAs while Congress had none.
Kejriwal government dealt with its problem of plenty by accommodating MLAs as parliamentary secretaries without first shielding them from the office of profit law.
In June 2015, the Delhi government had moved the amendment to the Delhi Members of Legislative Assembly (Removal of Disqualification) Act, 1997. It sought to exempt the parliamentary secretaries from the office-of profit disqualification provisions retrospectively , so that “necessary benefits and perks could be given to them to enable them to execute their duties“. These parliamentary secretaries to ministers don't figure on the list of posts exempted from the office-ofprofit rule as of now. The appointments have been questioned repeatedly .
The assembly had passed the Bill without the prior approval of the LG or the Centre
Section 15 of the government of NCT of Delhi Act, 1991 says a person shall not remain an MLA if he or she holds any office of profit under the Centre or government of a state or UT.
The legislator can escape disqualification only if the office is declared -by law made by Parliament, state legisla ture or UT -as a post that does not attract loss of membership. The fate of the MLAs will now be decided by the Election Commission that is considering a petition seeking their disqualification. Elaborating on the Presi dent's grounds for rejec tion of the bill, a home ministry official said the law was clear that what constitutes an “office of profit“ and what does not must be pre-defined.“Applying exemptions with retrospective effect is unconstitutional,“ the official said. The view in official circles is that with the President rejecting the bill, the post of parliamen tary secretary is clearly an `office of profit' and the disqualification of the AAP MLAs is all but a foregone conclusion.
President Pranab Mukherjee in June 2016 rejected the bill passed by the Delhi assembly seeking to exempt 21 AAP MLAs appointed as parliamentary secretaries from the purview of `office of profit' criteria.
The rejection of the bill will not affect the ongoing proceedings in the EC on a petition filed by lawyer Prashant Patel. “Just as court cases go on independent of each other, the EC will continue to hear the petition...the end result, however, may well be the same, that is, disqualification of the 21 MLAs,“ said an official.
The President's refusal to give assent for bringing an amendment to the Delhi Members of Legislative Assembly (Removal of Disqualification) Act, 1997 has cast a shadow on the future of the 21 parliamentary secretaries appointed by the Aam Aadmi Party government through an administrative order last year. The Election Commission of India has, meanwhile, been looking into the office of profit allegation under a petition.
AAP was holding an emergency meeting on Monday night to discuss the crisis, with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the chair. The govenrment's restlessnes was evident as the CM took to twitter to mount his defence.He yet again chose to hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that “Modi does not respect democracy . He is only scared of AAP“. In a series of tweets, he said: “We did not give a single paisa to any MLA, neither car nor bungalow. All MLAs were working for free. Modiji says sit at home, don't do any work.“ He added: “One MLA was put in charge of power, one of water and another of hospitals and one MLA of schools. Modiji says neither will I work, nor will I let anyo ne work.“
According to constitutional experts, the President's refusal has moved the 21 MLAs one step closer to certain disqualification. The EC has alredy issued these MLAs a show-cause notice on the same ground earlier, and Monday's decision by the President denies the exemption Kejriwal wanted to give them for shielding them from disqualification under Office of Profit rules.
Legal experts said the role of EC is now largely academic and procedural since the head of state has in a way settled the issue. Former solicitor general Mohan Parasaran told TOI that once the “President has decided not to accord his assent, the complaint before EC doesn't survive. It remains an academic discussion since the President has decided on a higher plane.“
The former secretary general of Lok Sabha, Subhash C Kashyap, agreed. “The legal position is that having occupied an office of profit, these 21 MLAs stand disqualified. Disqualification has to be done by President in consultation with EC under Article 192.“
An AAP government spokesperson, however, claimed that this was not the end of the road as the amendment to the legislation was aimed at bringing the parliamentary secretaries under the category exempted from disqualification on grounds of office of profit so that they could be given some “essential perks“ which they were not getting now. As far as the petition in EC was concerned, the spokesperson argued that this was a different matter as it was not about the legislation but on the question of whether these MLAs come under the purview of the “office of profit“. He added: “We have been arguing repeatedly that they do not come under the office of profit as they don't get any financial benefits.“
2016: LG-CM showdown kept city on tenterhooks
Ambika Pandit, Dec 30, 2016: The Times of India
When LG-CM showdown kept city on tenterhooks
Jung's Exit Marks New Start, But Baijal May Not Let Govt Breathe Easy Either
Customary competition for power between the state and central governments is particularly complex in the case of Delhi because of various interpretations of the statutes regarding the governance of the capital. While chief ministers of the semi-state and the lieutenant governor, the constitutional authority , have managed not to step on each other's toes too often in the past, the wrangling between the two offices has been vexatious in the recent past. His never-ending quarrels with chief minister Arvind Kejriwal over administrative prerogatives may in fact have hastened the decision of Najeeb Jung not to see out 2016 as Delhi's LG.
In the war over the interpretation of the laws on Delhi's governance, several state government orders were struck down as being ultra vires by Jung. The LG's office claimed a constitutional position as the final arbiter on appointments and posting of state officials in Delhi, a view that seemed to have been confirmed by Delhi high court when it reserved administrative authority for the LG on August 4. The court ruling prompted Jung to call for files from all government departments for a review by a committee he appointed, consisting of former CAG VK Shunglu, former CEC N Gopalaswami and former CVC Pradeep Kumar. The incoming LG will now have to deal with the several legal irregularities that the panel is believed to have listed in its report.
During all this, AAP adopted the political strategy of describing itself as the victim of the politics of the PM and BJP. This will be tested in the assembly elections in Goa, Punjab and Gujarat in 2017. On home turf too, the game plan will be subjected to electoral assessment in the municipal elections in March or April next year.
After a massive election victory in 2015, the AAP government chose to set aside certain procedural norms, like having the LG clear policies or legislative bills before enactment. When Jung pointed out the legal lapses in such a trend, AAP promptly accused the LG of being the centre's agent, acting on its behalf to block Delhi's development. Every time it happened, the party pitted itself as an elected government being derailed by an appointed authority .
Among the issues over which the government had the bitterest dispute was control of the bureaucracy . The year began with the mass protest leave by DANICS and IAS officers on December 31, 2015, and ended with bureaucrats belonging to the AGMUT cadre of IAS and DANICS officially adopting a resolution against “injustices of any kind by the political executive of the Delhi government meted out to the officers of the state government in discharge of their duties“. In between, there were numerous run-ins over postings and transfers.
