A government trying to defend allegations of overpricing natural gas from Reliance Industries Ltd's KG-D6 basin has found support from the unlikeliest of corners. On Wednesday, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley questioned whether the Aam Aadmi Party had the power to review a decision taken by a central government. "My comment is not concerned with the fairness or otherwise of the fixation of prices of natural gas…The issue is can a state government, through its anti-corruption branch (ACB), investigate a decision taken by the central government?" Jaitley asked in a blog post.
He argued the powers of the Delhi government ACB were limited in scope to Delhi government personnel. If the ACB began investigating cases relating to the central government, it would lead to a 'parallel jurisdiction', as the Centre already fell under the Central Vigilance Commission, he added.
"This would imply from the prime minister and the Cabinet secretary to all public servants, all will be susceptible to the jurisdiction of the state government…To put the central government under the police jurisdiction of the state government will be constitutional monstrosity. It would be a violation of federal principles."
