The Central government on Tuesday appointed April 27, 2021 as the date on which provisions of Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act, 2021 shall come into force. This essentially means that starting Wednesday, Delhi’s lieutenant governor Anil Baijal is now the ‘government’ in the Union territory.
The President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, had on March 28 given assent to the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act, 2021, which enhances the powers of the Lieutenant Governor and limits the elected government’s power in Delhi.
On March 15, the Central government introduced The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment ) Bill, 2021, in the Lok Sabha. It was passed in the Rajya Sabha amid an opposition walkout.
The bill amended the GNCTD Act 1991, in light of the July 4, 2018, five-judge constitution bench verdict of the Supreme Court, which, for the first time had interpreted the provisions of the Article 239AA and article 239AB in the 69th amendment of the Constitution, and defined the powers of the elected government and the lieutenant governor of Delhi in the administration and governance of the capital.
The Centre had said that the GNCTD Bill 2021 will “promote harmonious relations between the legislature and the executive and further define the responsibilities of the elected Government and the Lieutenant Governor, in line with the constitutional scheme of governance of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, as interpreted by the Hon’ble Supreme Court”.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had hit back by saying that this is a betrayal of the people of Delhi, the stunning mandate for the Aam Aadmi Party in 2015 and 2020, as it virtually disenfranchises the voter, and questioned the purpose of having elections in Delhi at all.
The 69th Amendment Act to the Constitution in 1991 paved the way for the capital to become a union territory with a legislative assembly through Articles 239AA and 239AB. Delhi is governed by Articles 239AA and Articles 239 AB, the GNCTD Act 1991 and the Transaction of Business Rules 1993.
One of the crucial amendments is section 21 of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991, where after subsection (2), a subsection, “the expression of ‘Government’ referred to in any law to be made by the legislative assembly shall mean Lieutenant Governor”, has been introduced.