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After intense opposition and questions over its constitutionality, the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023, received Parliament’s seal of approval on Monday as the draft law made its way through the Rajya Sabha. The Bill grants the Centre-appointed Lieutenant Governor of Delhi increased powers over the administrative apparatus of the national Capital.
Shortly after the Bill was cleared in the Upper House late on Monday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called it a “backdoor robbery of power”.
“The Bill to enslave the people of Delhi was passed in Parliament today. This Bill renders the people of Delhi powerless. In 1935, the British brought in a law called the Government of India Act, which said there will be elections in India but the elected government will not have any powers,” Kejriwal said in a video address.
The Government of India Act, 1935, set out to establish the “Federation of India” consisting of British Indian territories and princely states, and governed at two levels — central and provincial. The Act introduced bicameralism — upper and lower Houses — at the Centre and in six provinces along with direct elections to these chambers. At the time, it was one of the longest pieces of legislation passed in the British Parliament.
The Act eliminated the system of diarchy introduced by the Government of India Act, 1919, which devolved some powers to provincial legislatures but kept authority in key areas such as finance with the British-appointed provincial governor. The 1935 Act also granted the provincial governor the power to suspend the provincial government if deemed necessary.
However, it retained diarchy at the central level. The governor-general, who was not accountable to the legislature, had direct control over some matters, including defence, taxation, and the police. Other subjects such as health and education were left to the legislature but the governor-general was given the authority to act on these matters too.
It also expanded voting rights, from 3% of the population to 14%, set up a federal court in Delhi, and established the Reserve Bank of India.
But Indian leaders were unhappy with the Act since it placed limitations on the autonomy it granted. The governor-general and provincial governors retained authority on key matters and had the power to supersede or suspend elected governments.
The Congress called it a “slave constitution that attempted to strengthen and perpetuate the economic bondage of India” but still asked its members to contest elections for central and provincial legislatures. The Muslim League, too, criticised the Act, with Muhammad Ali Jinnah calling it “thoroughly rotten”. But Jinnah agreed to participate in the provincial governments.
The Federation of India, however, was never established since many princely states refused to support the Act. The rest of the Act was enacted in 1937 after the first provincial elections were held. The Act was nullified after the Constitution of India was drafted in 1950, though the Constituent Assembly borrowed several provisions from it.
