Introduction of bills a violation of codes: Vijender Gupta

Which are the procedures that have been violated?
It violates Section 55 (1) (a) of the Transaction of Business of the Govt of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) Rules, 1993. This stipulates that prior approval of the Lieutenant Governor and Centre is a pre-requisite (to introducing bills). The amendment to the section mandated that every bill should be referred to the Lt Governor. Also, Section 239 AA of the Constitution does not give legislative competence to the state to amend the CrPC or subjects under entries 1, 2 or 18 – police, land and public order.

Is there any objection other than procedural violation as far as CrPC is concerned?
The Delhi government is desperate to have power over police. The bill gives magistrates the power to investigate police. Also, Section 176 gives power to magistrates to conduct an inquiry in case of custodial deaths or dowry cases. The scope of it cannot be widened by the GNCTD. This is against Parliament, which is the supreme authority in amending rules…

The bureaucracy also needs to vet the bill before it is introduced. Are you saying that they too have violated the Constitution?
The Law Department and the chief secretary have objected to the introduction of the Bill in the Vidhan Sabha. Yet the government chose to table it. The law would never give its approval. We want them to circulate a cabinet note if this is untrue.

Is the opposition planning to counter this violation?
We have brought this violation to the knowledge of the Lieutenant Governor. We are planning to meet the Home minister soon. It should not be forgotten that both the BJP and Congress had opposed the introduction of Jan Lokpal Bill during the previous tenure of the AAP government. The government had refused to budge from its stand that it had not taken prior approval of the Lt Governor and the Centre. The government has repeated the same mistake to score brownie points.