Country witnessing coercive instead of cooperative federalism: Tharoor

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Thursday alleged that "blatant subversion of the constitutional separation of powers" was taking place through the bill to replace the Delhi services ordinance and said while Prime Minister Narendra Modi talks about cooperative federalism, the country was witnessing "coercive federalism".

Participating in the the debate in Lok Sabha on the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023, Tharoor argued that the proposed bill represents a "grave chapter in the history of the Indian republic, seeking to ratify an ordinance that in many ways is an assault on our democratic heritage and the spirit of federalism".

He argued that bill with such a substantive policy change should not have been brought in the first place when a motion of no-confidence was pending against the government.

"The Bhagavad Gita of parliamentary practice and procedure -- MN Kaul and SL Shakdher (book) -- explicitly states that when the leave of the House to the moving of a motion of no-confidence is granted, no substantive motion on policy matters is to be brought before the House by the government till the motion of no-confidence is disposed of," Tharoor said.

"In 27 motions of no-confidence brought since independence to this House, no bills were debated and passed (during the period of no-confidence motion) before this government did so with two bills in 2018," he said.

"Therefore, such an improper introduction of a substantive policy change while the no-confidence motion is pending is against the democratic morality," the Congress MP said.

"What we have repeatedly seen under this government is a brazen effort being made to curtail the autonomy of our states. PM Modi talks about cooperative federalism but we are witnessing instead coercive federalism that seeks to centralise all power in the hands of the central government," he said.

Tharoor also recalled that in the Lok Sabha, almost four years ago, the government had "unceremoniously" passed a bill that sealed the fate of a state government practically overnight.

Referring to the Centre's move to take away the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir and abrogating its special status, he said the government had showed "rampant disregard" for the basic constitutional relationship of the people of J-K to the republic of India without consulting them or their elected representatives.

"This government is showcasing the same attitudeA breathtaking betrayal of our democratic political culture, an utter contempt for the people of the state and of the value of the political representation they give themselves through elections," the MP from Thiruvananthapuram said.

"Four years later, we are back in the house with the government that is clearly bringing the same attitude to our national capital," he added.

Tharoor also referred to Home Minister Amit Shah citing India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru while pitching the bill for consideration of the House, and said the truth is "times change and with that facts change".

Referring to the treasury benches, he said they oppose everything that Nehru said and "stood for so why not on this one too".

"They also went on about alliance politics, but let me stress this is not about alliance politics but this is about principle," he asserted.

The democratic and federal republic of India today finds a grave shadow cast upon it, Tharoor said.

"The Union of States, so original and aspirational in its genesis, faces a crisis of the federal division of powers. In stark contrast to the government's claims of 'cooperative federalism', we routinely see the ruling party impinging upon the sovereign domain of the states, from vacillating on GST dues and MNREGA payments to states to bulldozing through laws on subjects from the State List. A blatant subversion of the constitutional separation of powers is taking place again today through this Bill," he alleged.

Tharoor also hit out at Minister of state for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi for her remarks on the bill, saying she asserted that India is not federal, and if it is so then why do the country then have a union list, state list and a concurrent list.

In his speech in the Lok Sabha, he said the Supreme Court was loud, clear and unequivocal on the matter, asserting that the government seems determined to ignore the highest court of the land.

He went on to list "dangerous prongs" of the amendment, pointing out that it removes services from the legislative competence of the Delhi legislative assembly.

"In other words, it amends the Constitution without being a Constitutional Amendment Bill. It establishes the National Capital Civil Services Authority, which consists of the Chief Minister, Chief Secretary of Delhi, Principal Home Secretary of Delhi. The Authority in which the elected CM can be outvoted by the other two, will make recommendations to the Lieutenant Governor (LG) regarding transfers and postings of officials and disciplinary matters," he said.

"In fact, the other two can meet without the CM and take decisions without his participation. In other words, bureaucrats will henceforth exercise authority that voters have given to their elected public representatives," Tharoor argued.

If the BJP would have been in power in Delhi, would they have accepted this bill, he asked, and added that "it seems a case of where you stand depends on where you sit".

The bill empowers the LG to exercise his sole discretion on several matters including those related to National Capital Civil Services Authority, and the summoning, prorogation and dissolution of the Delhi Legislative Assembly, he pointed out.

This implies that the elected chief minister may be unable to convene a session needed for essential government business, Tharoor said.

The LG can overrule over a unanimous decision of this authority, he added.

Executive law-making through an ordinance, as the Supreme Court held in D.C. Wadhwa (1987), is only to meet an extraordinary situation and cannot be perverted to serve political ends, Tharoor said, quoting some portions from court verdicts.

But the government has done so in a brazen display of power, he alleged.

"Most crucially, adding an additional subject of exemption (services) to the existing exemptions (land, public order, and police) of Delhi's legislative power listed in Article 239AA, without amending the Constitution, is arguably an act of constitutional subterfuge," Tharoor said.

He claimed that this is a "Constitutional amendment bill in disguise".

"How ironic that when the Supreme Court has said there is a complete breakdown of the constitutional machinery in Manipur, you don't want to discuss it but you want to amend the constitutional machinery when it is functioning in working order," he said.

Referring to the Supreme Court's May 2023 judgement, Tharoor said the top court has argued that democratic government rests on a triple chain of accountability -- civil servants are accountable to ministers; ministers are accountable to legislatures; and legislatures are accountable to the electorate.

If a democratically-elected government is not provided with the power to control the officers posted within its domain, then the principle underlying the triple-chain of collective responsibility would become redundant, he argued.

By severing the first link of the triple chain of accountability, the bill is essentially contradicting the principles of parliamentary democracy, Tharoor contended.

In 'New India', some states will come first if they are ruled by the right party while others must remain subservient to the political wishes of those in New Delhi, the Congress MP said.

There has been the cultural aspect to these assaults on states' rights by the Centre through the unjustified push towards imposing Hindi on the southern states, he alleged.

There is also a law and enforcement angle through the "weaponisation of independent regulatory and investigative bodies" like the Enforcement Directorate, the CBI and the Income Tax department to clamp down on the government's political opponents from regional parties, Tharoor said.

There is also the use of legislation like the Disaster Management Act, an obscure provision of which was used to ride roughshod over states' rights in imposing successive lockdowns during the Covid pandemic, he said.

"The record number of cesses that are currently being levied by the central government, the proceeds of which are not shared with the statesOne wonders if this is new definition of 'Na Khaunga, Na Khane Dunga'," he said.

"We should not let such a travesty of a bill pass this House," Tharoor said.