Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday announced that the draft Bill for the statehood of Delhi was ready and his Government will soon place the document in public domain. “Draft Bill for statehood of Delhi ready. Will be soon placed in public domain for comments and suggestions from the public,” Kejriwal said in a tweet.
Sources said, the lutyens’ zone — which houses Rashtrapati Bhavan, residences of the Vice-President, the Prime Minister, parliamentarians and foreign missions — may remain untouched in the Bill which may be passed in a special session of the Delhi Assembly. “The Government will make public draft Bill for statehood of Delhi next week and seek comments and suggestions from the masses. After receiving suggestions and comments from people, the draft Bill will be tabled in the Delhi Cabinet for its nod. The full statehood demand also includes control over Delhi Police and Delhi Development Authority (DDA).
“Once the draft Bill is passed by the Cabinet, it will then be tabled in the Delhi Assembly. If the Bill is passed there, the Government will send it to the Centre for Constitutional amendment,” said a source, adding, Parliament will take a final decision on the full statehood for Delhi.
Kejriwal has been demanding full statehood for Delhi since he came to power in 2015, contending that it will help him implement his plans in a better way in the city. Kejriwal, has often complained of unnecessary interference by the Central Government through lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung, who reports to the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The full statehood of Delhi has been a thorny issue between the ruling AAP and the Opposition BJP. While it was part of the Aam Aadmi Party manifesto, the BJP that had been raising the issue for years, kept mum on it ahead of the February Assembly polls last year. As the full statehood demand was common across the political spectre, the AAP Government is hopeful that it would be able to garner support from theses parties. “Delhi’s first constitutional status after Independence was that of a State. The Assembly and the Council of Ministers were then abolished in 1956 and Delhi became a Union Territory under the direct administration of the President,” said a functionary of AAP, adding that in the current system, power is divided between the Chief Minister and the Central Government through the l-G and this dual control creates an inherent tension between the two power centres.
Experts said the lacuna in the jurisdiction of the national Capital’s Government is why Delhi is not considered a State despite having an Assembly and a Chief Minister. The stalemate has remained unresolved despite different models available in other Capitals to balance democratic and security exigencies. Unlike its counterparts in States, the Delhi Assembly is barred by Article 239AA(3)(a) of the Constitution from making laws on three of the 66 State list entries. The three subjects that do not apply to the Delhi Assembly — and therefore the Delhi Government — are Entries 1, 2 and 18 dealing with public order, police and land. Delhi has a unique status in the Indian union. It is a Union Territory with a legislative Assembly that limits the power of the Delhi Government. law and order, including police, land and civic bodies are controlled by the Union Government, which has led to a raging turf war with the Kejriwal Government.
The sensitivity of the situation can be gauged from the fact that even when the NDA Government made an abortive bid in 2003 to confer statehood on Delhi, the Bill introduced by lK Advani steered clear of Entries 1 and 2 that deal with the city’s security. As a corollary, the Delhi Police Commissioner reports to the
l-G, who in turn discharges functions relating to public order and police with Union Home Ministry’s concurrence. The Bill to grant full statehood to Delhi was referred to a Parliamentary Committee, but no further attempt was made to grant Delhi full statehood.
The then BJP-ruled Delhi Government had passed a resolution in the Delhi Assembly seeking full statehood for Delhi in 1993. The Congress Government headed by Sheila Dikshit had also placed resolution in the Delhi Assembly twice for grant of full statehood, which was passed.
In 1987, ‘Sarkaria Committee’ (later called Balakrishnan Committee) was appointed to look into the issues connected with the administration of Delhi and the report was submitted in 1989. In accordance with the recommendations of the Committee, Parliament passed ‘The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991’, besides other legislations. Granting full statehood to Delhi was ruled out.