The legislature and judiciary need to respect each other, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs heading two separate Delhi Legislative Assembly Committees said here on Saturday.
AAP MLAs Saurabh Bharadwaj and Madan Lal, who head the Petition and Privileges committees of the Delhi Assembly, added that the judiciary should not “interfere” in the proceedings of house panels. This follows the Delhi High Court staying action initiated by Assembly panels against bureaucrats .
Fixing accountability
In a statement issued by the chairpersons of Delhi Assembly Committees on Petitions and Privileges, Mr. Bharadwaj and Mr. Lal pointed out that the decision of the Delhi High Court to issue a show-cause notice to the PWD Principal Secretary was “exactly in line with fixing accountability of the executive”, which the Assembly committees have “been striving for” since many months.
With officers posted with the Delhi government frequently approaching courts, Mr. Bharadwaj said that the Assembly would appoint its lawyers so that it has proper representation in court.
“When action is initiated against officers, they approach the High Court and get a stay. Separation of powers of judiciary and legislature is clearly mentioned in the Constitution according to which the court cannot interfere in the Assembly Committees’ proceedings,” Mr. Bharadwaj said. He added that, “According to our (Assembly) Speaker, judiciary and legislature should respect each other.”
Centre’s stand
The chairpersons also expressed “surprise” that the Central government had taken a contradictory stand in the SC and Delhi HC on the powers and privileges of House committees.
“The Attorney General appearing before the Constitution Bench of the SC last week stated that courts should not interfere in the functioning of panels constituted by the Parliament and legislatures of States. However, an Additional Solicitor General appearing for the Centre in the Delhi HC took a contradictory stand and stated that the Centre has no objection in court staying the House panel proceedings,” the statement said.
