President Pranab Mukherjee returns five Bills passed by Assembly

New Delhi: In a blow to the AAP government, President Pranab Mukherjee has returned five of the 17 Bills passed by the Delhi Assembly, including the ones related to the time-bound delivery of services, minimum wages and salaries of Delhi MLAs and ministers.

The President has sought an explanation over certain amendments inserted by the Delhi Cabinet in the Union government Bills. In November 2015, the Delhi government had passed a Bill on the Right of Citizen for Time-Bound Delivery Service, which sought various amendments to Delhi (Right of Citizen to Time-Bound Delivery of Services) Act, 2011. The Bill aims at providing citizens with time-bound delivery of the government services.

The Member of Legislative Assembly of NCT of Delhi (salaries, allowances, pension, etc.) Amendment Bill, a proposed legislation that seeks a hike of nearly 400 per cent in the existing salaries and perks of the city legislators, has been returned. Sources said that one of the Bills has been returned with a note that the Member of Legislative Assembly of NCT of Delhi (salaries, allowances, pension, etc.) Amendment Bill by the AAP dispensation has tinkered with the definition of Delhi government.

Sources said that the Kejriwal-led government inserted an amendment in a Central legislation which said: “The expression ‘government’ means the lieutenant-governor of the National Capital Territory of Delhi appointed by the President under Article 239 and designated as such under Article 239 AA of the Constitution.”

It’s a routine for the President to go by the advice of the council of ministers of the Union government. The recent development is likely to trigger a fresh round of confrontation between the Centre and Delhi government regarding the constitutional powers of the Union Territory of Delhi, sources said.

The Bills pertaining to a significant increase in the minimum wages of the skilled and unskilled labourers in Delhi has also failed to get the President’s assent. Earlier, a previous version of the Bill had a run in with the Centre and former L-G Najeeb Jung also, with the Union home ministry seeking clarification from the Delhi government on the Minimum Wages (Delhi) Amendment Bill passed in 2015.

However, the VAT Amendment Bill and Netaji Subhash Institute of Technology Bill have been cleared by the President.

While the VAT Bill empowers the trade and tax department to impose tax on imported goods, the NSIT Bill accords university status to the institute.