Delhi lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung has taken umbrage over the manner in which the appointment of the Chairperson of Delhi Commission of Women (DCW) was pushed through by the Delhi Government without the mandatory approval of the l-G.
Jung on Wednesday issued an order saying that “the notification (of appointement) has no legal scantity” and therefore “any action or decision taken by illegally-appointed DCW Chairperson Swati Maliwal will be ultra vires.
The l-G’s directive came after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal ignored established norms and issued an order for appointment of Maliwal as DCW chairperson without prior approval of the l-G.
The l-G office on Wedneday denied the claim of Maliwal that she has barred from office. Sources said that the Raj Niwas will seek her explantion. The movement of the file was halted and then orders were issued on the penultimate evening Barkha Singh was to demit office.
Interestingly, earlier during his 49-day rule Kejriwal had requested Raj Niwas to dismiss Barkha Singh as the chief of DCW and appoint Maitree Pushpa in her place. However, this time his office has given the l-G the go by and cited that the l-G is only the executive authority, which means a rubber stamp, while the legislative or the competent authority is the Women and Child Development (WCD) Minister as WCD is a transferred subject under the provisions of Article 239 AA (4) of the Constitution of India.
Meanwhile, after the controversy erupted, the WCD Ministry has moved the file again pertaining to appointment of DCW chairperson. It remains to be seen whether the Kejriwal Government will fall in line on the issue or not.
Questioning Maliwal’s appointment, Raj Niwas said: “As the notification in question has been issued without approval of the l-G, the competent authority, in breach of rules and procedures , the notification has no legal sanctity and any action taken by the chairperson or any member of the Commission including quasi judicial decisions would be ultra vires and infructuous”.
SCl Das, Secretary to l-G, in a letter to Principal Secretary to the CM said: “All statutory notifications for re-constitution of the DCW in the past had the approval of the l-G.”
Das stated that even the proposal moved by the AAP Government in January 2014 for the removal of the former chairperson and appointment of her replacement had been placed before the l-G.
Citing a Home Ministry notification, Raj Niwas said that in respect of the NCT of Delhi, the “Government means the l-G” appointed by the President under Article 239 and designated as such under Article 239AA of the Constitution.
However, Maliwal, who is the wife of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Naveen Jaihind, said on Wednesday: “I have not received any communication from the l-G’s office or the Delhi Government on the issue. I am doing my work. I will continue doing my work whether I remain on the post or not.”
later in the evening she tweeted: “The l-G called and said that I should not come to office tomorrow and all my files are being taken back. The doors of DCW will be shut tomorrow.” However, the l-G’s office denied Maliwal’s claim.
The Opposition had criticised Maliwal’s selection terming it as “nepotism” while the AAP maintained that her selection was done purely on “merit”.
Referring to reports claiming that Jaihind and Kejriwal were relatives, BJP’s Delhi unit president Satish Upadhyay questioned whether the Delhi CM was carrying forward the “Jai Hind jijaji (hail brother-in-law) tradition of Congress” by considering Maliwal for the job. The Congress had also said AAP, which used to criticise nepotism and favouritism, is now following the same path to promote a few members of the party.