NEW DELHI: Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi on Monday termed the Delhi services bill "unconstitutional" and "anti-democratic" and appealed to all opposition parties in Rajya Sabha to oppose it with the warning that "someday this anti-federal knock will come" at their door too.
He accused the government of bringing the bill out of "vendetta" and said it was against two verdicts of the Supreme Court Constitution bench.
The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023, will replace an ordinance promulgated by the Centre for handling the transfers and postings of officials in the Delhi government.
Initiating a discussion on the bill, which was moved by Home Minister Amit Shah for consideration in Rajya Sabha, Singhvi said no government in the past had ever tried to overrule the status of the Delhi government and accused the current dispensation of being a "control freak".
"This bill is completely unconstitutional. It is fundamentally anti-democratic. It is a frontal assault on the regional voice and the regional aspirations of the people of Delhi. It violates all principles of federalism, all norms of civil service accountability, all models of assembly-based democracy. It violates the basic structure," he asserted.
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He said that no government since 1992, when Delhi's special constitutional status was created, tried to overrule two judgments of the Supreme Court constitution bench on the status of National Capital Territory.
"This government and this bill have done it all, something not done earlier," he said, adding such a step has now been taken because of the "control freak" nature of the government whose "visiting card appears to be vendetta, whose identity badge is of a graceless and fuming electoral loser."
He said the approach of the government is "to control by hook or crook, usually more by crook and less by hook".
Singhvi criticised the provisions of the bill which he said seeks the "creation of an authority where the chief minister is in a minority, to empower two bureaucrats to overrule an elected chief minister and make the LG, a constitutional figurehead except in three areas, into a 'Super CM' and give powers to the LG to appoint heads of large number of regulatory agencies".
Stating that this is not about any particular government in the NCT, he said, "It is the deliberate regression from a people's government guaranteed to the people of Delhi 30 years ago. And hence it is a decimation of the most fundamental constitutional values."
Asking all parties to collectively rise to oppose the bill, he said, "Someday this anti-federal knock will come at your door."
This is a matter to ponder for those who are supporting this bill, he said, adding "what is happening with the Delhi government today could happen to you soon".
"जहाँ तक दुःख और आक्रोश का सवाल है… दोस्तों, यह एक दुखद और खतरनाक प्रस्तावित कानून है। इस बिल और दिल्ली की हालत को देखकर तो यही शेर दोहरा सकता हूँ: “चेहरे पे सारे शहर के गर्द-ए-मलाल है, जो दिल का हाल है, वही दिल्ली का हाल है।”" - Dr Singhvi on #DelhiOrdinanceBill
— Abhishek Singhvi (@DrAMSinghvi) August 7, 2023Singhvi made an apparent reference to the Nazi rule and warned those who are supporting or have announced support to the bill by quoting Martin Niemöller, "First they came for the socialists and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I am not a Jew. Then they came for me and for you, and there was not one left to speak for us (sic)."
Martin Niemöller was a prominent German theologian and Lutheran pastor, who initially was a Nazi supporter but later turned an outspoken critic of Adolf Hitler.
He is remembered for his postwar statement: "First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out."
Sudhanshu Trivedi of the BJP rebutted the claims of the opposition and defended the bill. He said the ordinance and subsequently the bill were required considering how the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi behaved after the Supreme Court judgement, including large-scale bureaucratic transfers and calling for various files, including confidential vigilance files.
Sukhendu Sekhar Roy of the TMC opposed the bill and said the legislation is aimed at making the Delhi government toothless and without any real authority.
"The heavens would not have fallen if the government had waited for the constitution bench (of the Supreme Court) to deliver (its verdict). What was the urgency of bringing this ordinance?" he asked.
Roy said the bill needs to be opposed not only in Parliament but by people all across the country. "With this bill, the Delhi chief minister will be left without any real authority. In a democracy the will of the people is supreme. A duly elected CM has no power. It is a draconian bill. It is against the spirit of the Constitution and every person in the country should oppose this bill," he stated in the Upper House of Parliament.
Tiruchi Siva of the DMK said the bill infringes upon the spirit of democracy and the Constitution.
Stating that the bill is against constitutional morality, he said a state government that is elected by the people is answerable to the people.
He noted that democracy is in peril and the central government does not allow any state government to function on its own.
"If something is passed by the government, the governor does not endorse, either the central government encroaches or the governor does on its behalf," Siva said.
Sasmit Patra of the BJD, while supporting the bill, said the legislation is not against the Constitution.
V Vijaysai Reddy of the YSRCP also supported the bill.
Launching an all-out attack on the AAP, he said the party needed the power to support anti-nationals and separatists.
He said the party is unfit to govern Delhi.
Reddy termed the bill constitutionally valid.
