JOIN USThe Delhi Assembly on Wednesday challenged the central government’s authority by adopting a resolution against its notification but a constitutional expert said the resolution carries “zero” weight.
Former secretary of Delhi Assembly S K Sharma said the resolution deals with an issue which the House is not empowered to legislate upon and as such resolutions are not binding on any constitutional authority.
“Such a resolution is more for creating an illusion and playing to the galleries. In constitutional terms, it carries zero weight,” he said.
Sharma, who has served in the Lok Sabha secretariat for over a decade, said the resolution only reflects the sense of the House and carries no binding on either the LG, the Centre and the President.
“A state Assembly resolution can primarily share the members’ feelings with the Delhi government and even in its case it is up to the city government to take note of it and act on it,” he said.
“The Assembly may have decided to send the resolution to MPs, the President and the Home Ministry but it is only going to end up as a document in a file in the Home Ministry. Nothing really is going to change,” he said.
Sharma, who served as Delhi Assembly secretary from 1993 to 2002, hinted that if at all the Delhi government wants to undo the May 21 notification it can do so by challenging it in court.
“Till then, the LG and the Chief Minister will have to find a way of working in a cooperative manner – within the framework set by the Constitution and the notification,” he said.
The May 21 notification issued by the Centre gave Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung the final say in the postings and transfers of bureaucrats in the capital.
The House adopted the resolution by voice vote on the last day of the two-day special session of the Assembly called by the Aam Aadmi Party government which described the order issued by the Union Home Ministry as unconstitutional.