'PM Modi doesn't listen to SC': Arvind Kejriwal targets Centre as Rajya Sabha passes Delhi Services Bill

Soon after the Rajya Sabha passed the Delhi Services Bill, which takes away the power of the elected government to appoint or transfer officers in the city, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said he did not obey the Supreme Court's order. "The public had clearly said that the Centre should not interfere in Delhi by defeating them, but PM does not want to listen to the public," he said. 

The chief minister said that whatever he does, the people of Delhi support him for that and they have shown their support by making him win in the elections. "BJP is just trying to stop our good work. They are hindering the development work. They are trying to stop me from working. This time public will not let them win any seat," he said. 

Kejriwal further said that PM Modi has so much "arrogance" that he neither listens to the public nor listens to the Supreme Court. He said the prime minister had promised to make Delhi a full state. "Today, he stabbed the people of Delhi in the back," Kejriwal added. 

The Delhi Services Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha, with 131 supporting the bill and 102 voting against the motion. 

During the discussion on the bill in the Upper House, Home Minister Amit Shah said the bill had been brought to safeguard the rights of the people and not to usurp the power of the AAP government. Replying to the debate, Shah assured the Upper House that the objective of the bill was "only and only to provide efficient, corruption-free governance and popular government." 

The Home Minister also assured the members that there is not even a single provision that changes the status of the system prevailing since the Congress regime. He asserted that the bill is constitutionally valid and it does not violate the Supreme Court judgement from any angle. He said Delhi is different from other states because it houses Parliament, embassies, the Supreme Court and regularly many state heads from different countries visit the national capital. Therefore, Delhi was made a Union Territory. 

"Delhi is a Union Territory with an assembly with limited powers," he said. "We have not brought the bill to usurp power. This is to stop the encroachment of the Delhi government on the Centre's powers." 

The Delhi Services Bill was passed by Lok Sabha last week. The bill replaces an ordinance which was promulgated by the central government on May 19, a week after the Supreme Court handed over the control of services in Delhi excluding police, public order and land to the elected government, headed by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. 

The Delhi government had approached the Supreme Court for a stay on the ordinance promulgated on May 19. However, the apex court last month refused to grant an interim stay. It referred the ordinance to a Constitution bench.