Will take Centre’s ordinance to SC: Kejriwal

New Delhi, June 20

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday alleged that the BJP-led Central Government was trying to take control of Delhi through deceit. Criticising the recently created National Capital Civil Services Authority (NCCSA), he said the ordinance on control of services gave “excessive power to bureaucrats” over and above the ministers, the chief minister, and the Cabinet. Kejriwal also added that his government would take the matter to the SC.

‘More power with bureaucrats’

• Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal termed the recently created National Capital Civil Services Authority as farce.
• He said the Central Government’s ordinance gave bureaucrats more power than the Cabinet ministers.
• Highlighting the BJP’s defeats in Delhi elections, he alleged that the Centre was trying to run Delhi through deceit.

“One of the alarming consequences of this ordinance is that the final decision-making authority will now rest with department secretaries rather than elected

officials. In an apparent attempt to subvert the will of the people, two officers have been appointed above the CM to overturn the decisions in the NCCSA,” said Kejriwal after the first meeting of the NCCSA.

Proposes meet with L-G over crimes

• CM Arvind Kejriwal wrote to the Lieutenant Governor, proposing a meeting between the latter and the Cabinet colleagues for idea exchange on the ‘alarming surge’ in crimes.
• He suggested meetings between police officers and elected representatives. Later, L-G VK Saxena wrote to Kejriwal, cautioning him against ‘politicising crime’.

The CM expressed his dismay, pointing out that the secretary can dismiss the minister’s decision in every department. Furthermore, the Chief Secretary would be positioned above the Cabinet, granting them the authority to determine which decisions made by the Cabinet are correct.

Highlighting the BJP’s defeats in four elections and emphasising that the party’s chances of winning in Delhi were slim in the future, he alleged that the Centre was trying to run the administration of Delhi through deceit.

He termed the NCCSA as farce as “the decisions that were to be taken under it were already taken by the Centre”.

Kejriwal added that the Delhi government would take this matter to the Supreme Court. “I am confident that the court will reject this unconstitutional ordinance.

We also have the support of several opposition parties if this ordinance reaches Parliament. We are confident that it will be rejected in the Rajya Sabha as well,” he said.