Late at night on the 19th of May 2023, the Modi government promulgated an ordinance which essentially overturned the decision of the Supreme Court to give the power to post, transfer and appoint officers to the Delhi Government. While the AAP government held on to the power to appoint, post and transfer officials, the central government retained the power over police, order and land. The Centre has brought an ordinance notifying rules for the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) which restored some of the power back to the central government as well.
Through the ordinance, a National Capital territory Service Authority has been established by the central government.
The permanent authority would comprise of the Chief Minister of Delhi, the Chief Secretary of GNCTD and the principal secretary of the central home ministry.
It is this authority that would make recommendations with regards to transfers of officials, posting, appointments and the vigilance authority.
The essential element of the ordinance is that it does give power exclusively to the central government and take away the power from the AAP government, however, it establishes a Service Authority where there would be a collaborative effort to recommend transfer, postings and appointments, essentially ensuring the central govt also has a say in such matters.
After the central government promulgated the ordinance, AAP has been on the warpath. Using their usual over-dramatic rhetoric, AAP has branded the move “treacherous”.
Delhi Education Minister Atishi said, “The ordinance brought about by the Centre is against the Supreme Court ruling giving the AAP government control over services in the National Capital. SC had ruled that an elected government should have the power to take decisions. This is called democracy. The ordinance has been passed as the Centre is fearful of the authority vested to AAP by the Supreme Court ruling”. She said that the ordinance says that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal would not govern the Delhi government. “But the Centre will run it. It is clear that the Central government is fearful of the Aam Admi Party Government. Centre became fearful of the Supreme Court ruling. Therefore they have passed such an ordinance”.
Delhi Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj also termed the ordinance an “act of dishonesty and treachery”.”The Centre has done treachery with the ruling of the Supreme Court, Indian Constitution. With the people of Delhi. The people of Delhi elected Arvind Kejriwal three times. Today the Centre is saying that such a leader has no powers”. “Lieutenant Governor who has not been elected but rather imposed on the people of Delhi is being conferred with powers of posting and transfer. The ordinance shows disrespect towards the Supreme Court ruling,” the AAP leader said.
It is evident that the AAP leaders are not being honest. AAP has asserted that the power has been taken away from them, the elected representatives, and vested to an unelected individual – the LG. The Service Authority established by the ordinance would comprise of the Chief Minister of Delhi, the Chief Secretary of GNCTD and the principal secretary of the central home ministry. Therefore, the AAP government is equally involved in the process, contrary to what it is saying in its statements. In fact, since the Supreme Court in its order had specifically said that the central govt can amend the GNCTD Act if it wishes to modify the powers of the LG, itself notes that the central govt did not work against the Supreme Court order but in accordance with it.
Besides the shenanigans of AAP post the promulgation of the ordinance, it also becomes essential to understand why the central government had to bring in this ordinance in the national interest.
There has been a raging war between the bureaucracy and the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government in Delhi, leading to several impasse. There have been several officers who have complained that they were being threatened by the minister of the AAP government and this decision was essential to ensure the smooth functioning of the national capital territory which is of paramount importance and the seat of India’s democracy.
Here are some of the officers who had complaint about being threatened by the Minister of the Arvind Kejriwal government
Ashish More
Hours after the Supreme Court verdict giving exclusive powers of appointment, transfer and posting to the AAP government, a senior official had said that he was being threatened by the minister of the AAP govt, Saurabh Bhardwaj.
Senior Beaurocrat Ashish More sent a complaint against Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj to the Chief Secretary and Lieutenant Governor alleging misbehaviour. More said that on the 16th of May, Saurabh Bhardwaj called him to his chamber, threatened him and misbehaved with him. The letter of complaint that More wrote asked for strict action against the minister.
In response to these grave allegations, AAP resorted to its juvenile tactics yet again, claiming that Ashish More was lying and that he was making these allegations due to a conspiracy by the LG. Bhardwaj at the time had said, “Services Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj, instructed Services Secretary, Ashish More, to present a file for the transfer of a new officer to the post of Secretary of Services Department. However, Ashish More unexpectedly left the Secretariat without notifying the minister’s office, rendering himself unreachable while his phone also remained switched off,” a statement said.
AAP had also said that More was not “politically neutral” – which is a charge the levy against every bureaucrat that does not capitulate to their illegalities fully, thereby making it difficult for the UT of Delhi to function properly.
Special Secretary Vigilance YVVJ Rajasekhar
Special Secretary Vigilance YVVJ Rajasekhar, who was divested of his duties by Services Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj last week, wrote a letter to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Delhi Anti-Corruption Branch and L-G office. The letter that in the wee hours of the night, his office was broken into and sensitive files related to the excise policy probe, renovation of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence and those referred to central investigation agencies was photocopied. Room no. 403, Special Secretary (Vigilance) at Delhi Sectt, was broken into on the intervening night of 15th and 16th May at 3:00 AM. The letter also expressed apprehensions that his office might have been bugged.
The letter, YVVJ Rajashekhar says is in continuation of his previous report which stated how the Minister (Vigilance), Saurabh Bharadwaj, had instructed Assistant Directors not to submit the files related to the corruption cases to the vigilance officer.
Bhardwaj had claimed that Rajashekhar was mired in corruption. Arvind Kejriwal had in turn claimed that a Delhi-based NGO had sent a legal notice to the Delhi government because of the corruption by Rajashekhar. Only yesterday, the NGO denied having sent any legal notice or accusing Rajashekhar of corruption. NGO’s chairperson, GK Gupta, wrote to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, saying, “Abhinav Samaj has neither issued a legal notice nor filed a complaint against any Delhi government officer.” Gupta, himself a retired Delhi government officer, told HT, “The organisation has not forwarded such a complaint.”
“I have never made a complaint against YVVJ Rajasekhar either individually or on behalf of Abhinav Samaj. I am retired from the government and have worked under him in 1999. After that I never met him… according to my experience, he has been an honest officer. The so-called complaint/notice is fake, fictitious and made with mala-file intention… If it is a legal notice, it must have been sent by an advocate. Please investigate him as well,” wrote NGO chairman GK Gupta.
Therefore, it is safe to assume that Arvind Kejriwal and his minister lied blatantly, accusing Rajashekhar of corruption and extortion, simply to remove him since he was probing allegations of corruption against AAP and Arvind Kejriwal himself.
Assault of Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash
In 2018, Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash said that he was assaulted by AAP MLAs at the residence of Arvind Kejriwal at midnight. In his complaint to the police in February, 2018, Prakash said that Kejriwal, Sisodia and 11 AAP MLAs assaulted him in a midnight meeting called by the CM’s advisor, VK Jain to discuss the release of the party’s advertisements related to the government completing three years in Delhi.
At that time, Bureaucrats were up in arms against the AAP government ever since news of the assault on Anshu Prakash broke out. They had announced a complete boycott of the AAP government and stated that they would maintain only a formal written contract with the Delhi government until the Chief Minister apologizes for the assault. The bureaucrats had also registered a silent protest outside their offices and the silent protest will continue every day for five minutes to make a “strong statement”.
After the assault of the Chief Secretary, Ex-IAS officer Dhir Jhingran had resigned as a member of the State Advisory Council for Education in Delhi in solidarity with the victim of assault, Anshu Prakash, who was his batchmate.
The retired IAS officer wrote, “This is to inform you that I have been deeply shocked and saddened by the reprehensible incident that took place on February 19 night at the residence of the Chief Minister where Mr Anshu Prakash, Chief Secretary, who is also my batchmate in the IAS, was assaulted.”
In 2022, while the court acquitted Arvind Kejriwal and others of charges of criminal conspiracy in the case, it did frame charges against AAP leaders Amanatullah Khan and Prakash Jarwal for obstructing a public servant on duty, assaulting him, and voluntarily causing hurt to Prakash taking note of the statement of the CM’s former adviser VK Jain.
Therefore, while Kejriwal was acquitted by a court of law, it is apparent that an IAS officer was indeed assaulted while on duty, in the residence of Arvind Kejriwal. This proves that the AAP government has been in constant turmoil with the bureaucracy.
AAP minister Kailash Gahlot accused of threatening IAS Varsha Joshi
In 2018, another incident had come to the fore. the Delhi Government Employees Association, in a statement on Twitter, said that a Delhi minister misbehaved with a female IAS officer and insulted her in front of subordinates. The statement also claims that the minister threatened to have the officer implicated in false cases.
The statement reads, “All the officers and staff of Transport Department are greatly pained over the misbehaviour of Shri Kailash Gahlot, Minister (Transport), Govt. of Delhi with Ms. Varsha Joshi, IAS, Secretary-cum-Commissioner (Transport), in the Conference Room of Transport Minister on 3.08.2018. In the said meeting, the Minister not only misbehaved with an honest and upright woman officer but also insulted her in the presence of more than 30 subordinate officers. The Minister also threatened the Secretary to implicate her in false case and directed his staff to stop the entry of Secretary to his room if she tries to enter his office.”
Honest officers being targeted again for doing their job with integrity. Fake charges being levelled and dignity being attacked for expressing frank opinions. Despite assurances by the Hon'ble CM, no respect for dignity #StillWaitingForPromisesToBeFulfilled #TargettingTheHonest pic.twitter.com/fEqlbRhMHj
— Delhi Government Employees Association (@DelhiEmployees) August 4, 2018
The IAS Association had also condemned the incident through its official Twitter handle.
AAP MLA caught on camera calling for assault of IAS officers
After the assault of Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash, while Arvind Kejriwal brazened it out, his minister was caught on camera justifying the assault and calling for mob violence against IAS officers.
#WATCH: While addressing a rally in Uttam Nagar, AAP MLA Naresh Balyan says, 'jo Chief Secy ke sath hua, jo inhone jhootha aarop lagaya, main to keh raha hu aise adhikariyo ko thokna chahye, jo aam aadmi ke kaam rok ke baithe hain aise adhikariyo ke sath yahi salook hona chahye.' pic.twitter.com/BDamX7TJGe
— ANI (@ANI) February 23, 2018
While addressing a rally in Uttam Nagar, AAP MLA Naresh Balyan says, ‘jo Chief Secy ke sath hua, jo inhone jhootha aarop lagaya, main to keh raha hu aise adhikariyo ko thokna chahye, jo aam aadmi ke kaam rok ke baithe hain aise adhikariyo ke sath yahi salook hona chahye.’.
Women officers claim harassment, say they were forced to come to work late at night
In 2018 again, the women IAS officers had said in a meeting with PMO officials (Dr Jitendra Singh) that woman IAS officers were harassed regularly by AAP MLAs. They said that they were not surprised by the assault of Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash because they go through this ordeal on a regular basis.
#BREAKING — IAS officers allege harassment by Delhi ministers. Women IAS officers say they're forced to come late for meetings | @Arunima24 with more details #AAPvsBabus #ThappadMystery pic.twitter.com/Oh67qbJWlq
— News18 (@CNNnews18) February 23, 2018
They claimed that female officers were called late at night and harassed by AAP MLAs. They said they were also forced to sign decisions that they did not agree with.
This is merely the tip of the iceberg. From these incidents alone, and there are many more, it is proved beyond reasonable doubt that the AAP government had a grouse with the bureaucracy and had assaulted, threatened and forced favourable signatures etc from several IAS officers. This historical tussle between the AAP government and the bureaucrats had only dampened the administration of an important UT. The decision of the central government, therefore, comes at the heel of such conflict where it became necessary to step in between the AAP government and the bureaucracy to ensure the smooth functioning of Delhi and to ensure that the people of Delhi would not suffer the consequences of a dysfunctional government.
