Centre's big move: Issues ordinance on Delhi services
Days after the Supreme Court ruled that the Delhi government must have complete control on the matters of national capital's bureaucracy, the Centre on Friday brought an ordinance, making L-G the final arbiter in the matter. Effectively, they created a National Capital Civil Service Authority that shall decide on postings and transfers. Its members will include Chief Minister, Chief Secretary and Principal Home Secretary.
How will it function?
According to the ordinance, "All matters required to be decided by the authority shall be decided by majority (sic) of votes of the members present and voting. All recommendations of the authority shall be authenticated by the member secretary." In effect, all members shall vote, but in case of a difference of opinion, the decision of the L-G shall be final.
Ordinance has to be passed by both the Houses
The next step is that the ordinance has to be passed by both the Houses. While it will be a smooth ride in Lok Sabha, the same can't be said about Rajya Sabha where the Bharatiya Janata Party is short on numbers. Interestingly, it was promulgated a day after Arjun Ram Meghwal was appointed as the Minister of Law and Justice, replacing Kiren Rijiju.
Opposition is b not happy
What did the SC order?
On May 11, the five-judge SC bench, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, had stated that the legislature has control over bureaucrats in the administration of services. "If a democratically elected government is not allowed to control its officers and hold them to account, then its responsibility towards legislature and the public is diluted," the CJI had said.
