“Delhi isn’t a full state, but it isn’t a full union territory either”
Dear Mr Najeeb Jung,
Please stop treating Delhi and its people as your personal fiefdom. Granted, Delhi is certainly not a full state as you keep harping on. But it is also true that it isn’t a full union territory. The term used in the Constitution is National Capital Territory (NCT).
Simply put, it means that barring the three subjects of Land, Police and Public Order (mentioned clearly in Article 162 of the Constitution), Delhi has all the rights of a full state.
Similarly, your own power as the Lieutenant Governor, nearly coincides with the functions of a state Governor save the above mentioned three subjects, on which your decision (coming from the Centre) supercedes that of the state government.
“If there’s an iota of conscience left in you Mr Jung, please resign and spill the beans on your political masters on why you chose to go beyond your Constitutional role to harm and attack the Delhi Government, and history may still forgive you.”
By your recent decisions, you have not only violated the constitutional provisions and probity, but also tried to usurp the power of a government elected by a massive historic mandate. Do you realize how dangerous your decisions (prodded by the Centre of course) have been for the federal structure of our democracy?
Your decision to block the Delhi government-constituted Commission of Inquiry on DDCA corruption is along the predictable lines. You have successfully substantiated Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party government’s allegations of being a stooge of the central government.
To be fair on you, we realise that it’s not your independent decision. You are just toeing the line of your political bosses at the Centre.
As an individual with a distinguished academic and professional track record, one would have expected you to use your conscience, or at least common sense, and take the right constitutional positions. That you chose to be a rubber stamp of the Centre in all their nefarious decisions substantiate the allegations that you have skeletons in your own cupboard, and to hide those, you have completely compromised your own integrity in taking the cover of the Centre.
In doing so, you have failed to fulfill your constitutional obligations and taken the people of Delhi for a ride. And mark my words, your ill-advised decisions will come to haunt you. I have full faith in the Indian judiciary and I’m sure it will give a clear verdict on the Constitutional position soon.
You certainly have no moral authority to remain in your position.
If there’s an iota of conscience left in you Mr Jung, please resign and spill the beans. Confess why you chose to go beyond your constitutional role to harm and attack the Kejriwal government, and history may still forgive you.
Hope you will listen to the voice of your conscience.
A concerned Indian citizen
The author is a Gulf-based Indian journalist and keen observer of Indian politics.