The Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi Government will face the biggest Constitutional crisis in passage of the Delhi lokpal Bill in its present form in the legislative Assembly.
While political parties have been crying foul, experts have also opined that AAP’s version of lokpal Bill can only be passed in violation of the Constitutional norms.
At the same time, the Government will also be tested on numbers in the 70-member Assembly as even its ally Congress has refused to support the lokpal Bill when it is put to vote in the House on February 16. However, the Government will suffer a major embarrassment if it fails to get the Bill passed in the Assembly.
Constitutional experts termed the move illegal saying the proposed lokpal Bill could be introduced in the Assembly only after getting consent from the lieutenant-Governor of Delhi.
“The Government can, by no means, table the Bill without the l-G’s consent. However, if it does so, the l-G can instruct the Speaker against listing the matter for the House proceedings. Further, the l-G can defer the Assembly session by not giving his consent. Thirdly, the l-G can also ask the Government to get a resolution from the House for holding the Assembly Session at a public place,” said SK Sharma, former Secretary of Delhi Assembly and former Director of lok Sabha Secretariat.
Elaborating on the procedure, Sharma said if the lokpal Bill is passed by the Assembly, the law department of Delhi Government will send it to the l-G for approval with a note that the requisite procedure was not followed and hence, the consent may not be granted. “The l-G can either refuse to approve the Bill or forward it to the President of India with a negative remark. The lokpal Bill will be ‘killed’ then and there,” he said. Sharma said if the Bill fails to get through in Assembly, it will be a ‘moral defeat’ for the Government and the ruling party. In such a situation, the Opposition BJP can also bring a No Confidence motion against the Government.
However, for getting the Bill passed in the House, the Government will be required to go through voting on the Bill. This is where the strength of Government comes into play. With AAP MlA MS Dhir becoming the Speaker, the ruling party has 27 legislators in the House. With its ally Congress refusing to vote in favour of the lokpal Bill, the same will be defeated in the House as BJP has the maximum strength (32 MlAs) in the Assembly. Even if eight Congress MlAs decide to abstain from the House when the Bill is put to vote, the strength of the House will be reduced to 62. In such a circumstance, the BJP will again defeat the ruling party over the Bill. However, the BJP is yet to take a call on whether to support the Bill or oppose it. “The BJP has not been consulted while drafting the Bill. We will make our stand clear only after seeing the draft Bill. However, if the Government attempts to introduce the Bill in unconstitutional manner, we will certainly oppose the move. The Bill can only be passed in the Delhi Assembly and not at a public place like Ramlila Maidan or IGI Stadium,” said Delhi BJP president Vijay Goel.