Speaker Ram Niwas Goel said he has been pushing for their assent from the Centre. (File Photo)Around 14 bills passed by the Delhi Assembly — including on Jan Lokpal, time-bound delivery of public services, fixing accountability of private schools and expanding the inquiry jurisdiction of magistrates — remain stuck at various levels, ranging from the Lt-Governor and the Union government to departments of the AAP government. Speaker Ram Niwas Goel said he has been pushing for their assent from the Centre, keeping in mind that the term of the current Assembly is drawing to an end in another six months as Delhi goes to polls early next year.
Among the bills yet to get assent, eight were never returned to the Assembly, while the remaining were sent back by the President and the L-G, outlining the need for reconsideration and amendments. Messages to the L-G secretariat by The Indian Express, seeking comments, did not elicit any response.
The key bills that could not be notified despite being passed in the Assembly include the Delhi Jan Lokpal Bill; the Delhi Right of Citizen to Time-Bound Delivery of Services Amendment Bill; the Code of Criminal Procedure (Delhi Amendment) Bill; and the Delhi School Verification of Accounts and Refund of Excess Fee Bill.
According to Assembly records, the Jan Lokpal Bill, which was passed on December 4, 2015, “has not been received back”. Setting up a Jan Lokpal was one of the major poll promises of AAP, which rose to political prominence on the plank of anti-corruption.
The Assembly had cleared the Delhi School (Verification of Accounts and Refund of Excess Fee) Bill and the Delhi School Education (Amendment) Bill on December 1, 2015. While the former envisages penalties of up to Rs 10 lakh for taking interviews at nursery level and charging capitation fee, the latter seeks to ensure that private schools show greater accountability in fee accepted and money spent.
The bills have not been received from the L-G, as per Assembly records, as also confirmed by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.
The Delhi Right of Citizen to Time-Bound Delivery of Services Amendment Bill, which proposes that salaries of officers be deducted for delay in extending services, was first cleared by the House on November 26, 2015. The President had on January 30, 2016, returned it to the government seeking clarifications.
Subsequently, it was reintroduced and passed by the Assembly again on August 11, 2017. Since then, the bill has been awaiting assent.
The fate of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Delhi Amendment) Bill, passed in December 3, 2015, is no different. The bill seeks to empower the Delhi government to order magisterial inquiries into cases such as rapes in police custody, mysterious disappearances etc. Currently, the Delhi government can order DM inquiries into cases of custodial death, homicide, incidents of fire and suicide committed by women among others.
