Upping the ante against the Aam Aadmi Party, Reliance Industries today quoted constitutional expert Subhash C Kashyap to say that it was not for former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to file an FIR in the gas price revision case.
In a video posted on YouTube, an RIL official is seen interviewing Kashyap, former Secretary-General of the Lok Sabha, who states that in his opinion, it is not "the function of the chief minister of government of Union Territory of Delhi to be indulging in such acts such as filing an FIR against the central government or ministers or others."
"In all discussions on the acts of the 49-day government at Delhi, it is not sufficiently flagged that actually a government of the Union Territory of Delhi is not as independent as a government of a state," he says.
Kejriwal had ordered an FIR against Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily, RIL and its head Mukesh Ambani and others for allegedly colluding to more than double natural gas prices.
According to Kashyap, Delhi is a centrally administered Union Territory and the President is supposed to administer it through the Lt. Governor.
As a concession to the political forces in Delhi and to public opinion, a council of ministers and a legislature was conceded to Delhi, he said.
"But entirely unlike a state legislature, their powers are very clearly defined and delimited by the Constitution and by the NCT Act."
They do not take away the powers of the Union Parliament and Union government over the territory of Delhi and even in the state list, Parliament remains fully authorised to make laws, he said.
If there is a contradiction between laws made by Parliament and the Delhi Legislative Assembly, even in the state list, it is the Union law that prevails, he said.
The RIL official then states that just two days before quitting, Kejriwal ordered the FIR with the Anti-Corruption Bureau of Delhi, which reports to him and not the Delhi police, which is under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
"It is clear that neither he was keen on fighting corruption nor willing to follow due legal process. He had an eye on the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections," he added.
