After officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs said that the 14 Bills passed by the Delhi government would be returned, the Aam Aadmi Party is awaiting the files that it plans to re-table before the Assembly.
“We haven’t got any files from the Centre and neither has the Lieutenant-Governor. We will go through the objections raised by the Centre and try to tweak the Bills accordingly,” said Ram Niwas Goel, Speaker of the Delhi Assembly. The Bills will then be sent to the L-G for prior assent, and then be tabled before the Assembly again.
However, all this will eventually the delay the commencement of the Assembly session.
“It will take place in July-end. The session will not begin without these Bills,” Mr. Goel said.
This time, the Delhi government will not table any new Bills as the fate of the earlier 14 Bills is uncertain.
Criticising the Centre for politicising the passing of the Bills, and turning it into an ego issue,
Mr. Goel said that the wait was on for the Bills to come back, after which objections to the Delhi Education (Amendment) Bill, which proposed making private schools accountable and ensuring they don’t overcharge, will be looked into.
“If the Bills are rejected on the ground that they didn’t get prior assent from the L-G, then we will explore the legal options available,” he added.
