GNCTD (Amendment) Act: LG asks Assembly for changes in rules of procedure and conduct of business

Lt Governor V K Saxena has asked Delhi Assembly speaker for making changes in rules for the conduct of business and procedure of the House according to the GNCTD (Amendment) Act, 2021, a move that is likely to be a new flashpoint between him and the ruling Aam Aadmi Party.

In a statement, the AAP said the matter pertained to the Delhi Assembly, adding that ''we are sure the speaker will act as per the Constitution.'' An immediate reaction was not available from the Assembly speaker.

Sources in the L-G's office said that even 14 months after the GNCTD (Amendment) Act, 2021, came into effect, the Delhi Assembly has kept necessary amendments in its 'Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business' pending.

It was pointed that the Assembly and its committees were making rules to enable themselves to consider the matters of day-to-day administration of the Capital or conduct of inquiries in relation to administrative decisions in contravention of the Act of Parliament, sources said.

The LG in his ''message'' to the Speaker cited Sub Section (1) of Section 33 of GNCTD Act that enables the Assembly to make rules for regulating its procedure and the conduct of its business provided that those rules do not empower it to consider the matters of day-to-day administration of the Capital or conduct inquiries in relation to the administrative decisions, they said.

''Necessary amendments in the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Legislative Assembly of National Capital Territory of Delhi, 1997, or any other existing Rule on the subject are immediately required to be made to make them in consonance with the provisions of the GNCTD(Amendment) Act,'' LG conveyed in his message as per the sources.

Constitution expert SK Sharma said the LG's message practically stopped the Delhi Assembly to take up any issues other than those concerned the subject under its jurisdiction.

''Often we have seen the Assembly discussing national and international issues in its sittings. A similar message was sent earlier by the then LG to Delhi Assembly in 2014 to prevent it from introduction and consideration of the Lokpal Bill,'' Sharma said.

He said if the Assembly fails to follow the LG's message and make the necessary amendments in its rules of procedure and conduct of business, it will be against the Constitutional provisions and the Act.