Fight is for democracy, not supremacy, says AAP

Strongly reacting against the Delhi high court ruling, giving primacy to the lieutenant-governor in the affa-irs of the city administration, the AAP government on Thursday said it will challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court for “justice.”

Clarifying that the tussle over the Delhi government’s powers was not a fight with the Central government or with lieutenant-governor Najeeb Jung, but about the democracy, the AAP government questioned why the Constitution was amended to have a Legislative Assembly, if the city was to be run by the lieutenant-governor.

“We respectfully disagree with the high court verdict,” deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said, adding there was a “big difference” between any other Union Territory and the national capital and alleged that on the “pretext of rules, various decisions aimed at curbing corruption have been stalled.”

“The high court says Delhi is merely a Union Territory. If as per Constitution, Delhi is only a UT, then why was it amended to make Delhi a UT with legislature. If Delhi was to be run by the lieutenant-governor, then why was the Constitution amended to have a State Assembly. Why a provision was made to have an elected government We were targeted as we tried to rid the city of corruption,” he said, speaking in absence of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is attending a 10-day meditation course in Himachal Pradesh.

City home minister Satyendar Jain said the AAP government will move the Supreme Court against the verdict. “Several Acts of Parliament relating to Delhi have defined both the lieutenant-governor and the Government of NCT as different entities. So, if the Constitution had considered Delhi a mere UT, the city would have functioned like Chandigarh, Lakshad-weep and Andamans. But it is not so,” he said.

Mr Sisodia said people of Delhi had brought the AAP to power with a historic mandate hoping that corruption will “end” in all spheres of governance and when the AAP started to fulfil people’s aspirations, the efforts to curtail “rights of a democratically-elected government” were launched.

“When we started fixing the issue of corruption, caught corrupt policemen, the crisis began there. They felt if the government continues to work like this, the business of transfers-postings will shut down and corruption will end. They could not digest it and started curtailing rights of a democratically-elected government. The anti-corruption branch was part of the Delhi government since 1993. But the day, the ACB caught a policeman accepting bribe, it was brought under the Centre,” Mr Sisodia said.