The Aam Aadmi Party on Thursday said Union Minister Arun Jaitley had been “economical with facts” in his Facebook post on the Supreme Court’s judgment in the Delhi vs Centre case on Wednesday.
Mr. Jaitley had written that the Constitution Bench’s judgment had not added or diluted any powers of the Centre or the State government.
Contradictory voices
In a statement, the AAP said, “Varying responses and contradictory voices from the BJP reflect its frustration with the Supreme Court’s judgment, which has ruled that the elected Delhi government has the power to govern Delhi on all matters except land, police and public order, as enshrined in the Constitution of India.”
The AAP statement added that Mr. Jaitley had remained silent on how the court had “clipped the wings” of the BJP government-appointed Lieutenant-Governor.
Accusing the Union Minister of being “economical with facts”, the AAP asked Mr. Jaitley if he could deny that the Centre had argued in the court that the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers was not binding on the L-G.
“Mr. Jaitley has harped on a constitutional fact that Delhi is not a State; it is a different matter that this was never a subject matter before the Constitution Bench. Being an advocate, Mr. Jaitley must know that full statehood to Delhi can only be granted by the Parliament. The Supreme Court cannot change the Constitution, it can only interpret the constitutional provisions, like it did yesterday to embarrass the Central government,” the AAP said.
The party added that the BJP, which had campaigned for full statehood for Delhi in the past, had taken a U-turn on the issue, but the people of Delhi would give their reply for the “betrayal”.
Jaitley has harped on a constitutional fact that Delhi is not a State; it is a different matter that this was never a subject matter before the Constitution Bench. Being an advocate, he must know that full statehood to Delhi can only be granted by Parliament
AAP statement
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