Jan Lokpal bill live: Can’t bring bill in Assembly, says Delhi L-G

11:20 am: Lt Governor says Jan Lokpal can't be tabled

Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung has written to the Speaker of the Delhi Assembly saying that the Jan Lokpal Bill can't be tabled since it hasn't been approved by the Centre.

Despite being called a "Congress agent" and receiving a plea from the Chief Minister seeking that the bill be permitted, the Lieutenant Governor seems to have taken a stance that is in opposition to the AAP government's.

Now it's back to the AAP to see what action they take on this development.

10:15 am: JD(U) MLA says he won't back the AAP

JD(U)'s lone MLA in the Delhi Assembly has said that he won't be backing the AAP in its move to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill.

"I was supporting AAP throughout, but I am not sure if I can support them today when the entire House is on the other side," Iqbal was quoted as saying by ANI. 

Will the Congress buckle or will we see the AAP government in Delhi fall today?

Kejriwal after Assembly yesterday. PTI

10:00 am: AAP reiterates that government will fall if bill not allowed

Firstpost's Pallavi Polanki reports that the Delhi Assembly will convene at 2 pm and the Jan Lokpal Bill will almost definitely come up for introduction today which will mean a potential showdown between the AAP and BJP, Congress.

The AAP has reiterated that it will do pretty much everything in its power to not only introduce the bill but pass it as well. However, if all of it fails, they have reiterated that they will withdraw support to the AAP government.

End of updates for 13 February

6:00 pm: Kejriwal threatens to quit if Jan Lokpal Bill not introduced in Assembly

On a day that saw the Congress and the BJP perfectly coordinate their moves in the Delhi Assembly to hijack the Speaker's powers for the day, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has issued a fresh threat to the two parties.

He has said that he will resign if the introduction of the Delhi Jan Lokpal Bill is defeated when it is introduced in the Assembly tomorrow.

"The Congress-BJP coalition has won today," said Kejriwal speaking to reporters, after an assembly session that was marked by a series of adjournments.

The first day of the special assembly session witnessed some rowdy scenes with one Congress MLA Asif Mohammad going so far as to snatch papers from the Speaker's desk and throwing torn pieces of paper into the air.

Mohammad also tried to break the microphone on Kejriwal's desk, giving the CM a quite a start.

MLAs from the BJP and the Congress, in what seemed like a coordinated attempt at disrupting the House took turns to storm the well of the House and shout slogans demanding law minister Somnath Bharti's resignation.

Speaking to reporters about remarkable coordination between the Congress and the BJP today, Kejriwal said, "For the first time in Delhi's history, the synchronised action and match-fixing between the Congress and BJP has been exposed. Within a matter of five minutes they passed four resolutions with a voice vote...they both sought to call attention on the same issue, they both brought posters with the same slogans."

"It seems as if some meeting has taken place between them. When and where did this meeting take place. The issue was not Bharti, he was only a scapegoat," he said.

Kejriwal said that he suspected that the Delhi government's move earlier this week directing the anti-corruption bureau to register an FIR against Mukesh Ambani and Reliance Industries over gas pricing had "prompted both the parties to aggressively oppose the party" and that their behaviour in today's assembly was a reflection of that.

On the crucial issue of the Jan Lokpal bill, Kejriwal said that his government will stick to its stance that the bill's introduction in the Assembly without the Lieutenant Governor's approval was not in violation of the Constitution.

Kejriwal reiterated that the Delhi Assembly was fully within its rights to make laws on all except three issues and that in cases where the Assembly passes a bill that is repugnant to a central law, then the President's consent is required to be taken "after the bill is passed by the Assembly."

He called the Home Ministry's order that a bill introduced by Delhi assembly should first be approved by it was unconstitutional. "The Home Ministry is not superior to the Delhi Assembly," Kejriwal said.

The BJP and the Congress, said Kejriwal, want that the bill to be sent to the Centre. "We know what will happen if the bill is sent to the Centre. It will be sent back with a list that says that such and such sections are repugnant to the Central law and that it should be changed."

"We will not allow that to happen. When the Constitution gives the Delhi Assembly the right to pass a repugnant law, how can the Home Ministry deny it its right," said Kejriwal.

Asked what he would do if the Congress and the BJP continued to disrupt the Assembly like they did today, Kejriwal said that he was willing to give them a long rope.

But should the House vote against the introduction of the bill, he issued an ultimatum. "We will introduce the bill tomorrow...if they defeat the introduction of the bill, the government will resign," Kejriwal said.

9.21 am: Jan Lokpal is already an Act, insists Kiran Bedi

Former Kejriwal aide IPS officer Kiran Bedi continued to take on the AAP government in Delhi over the bill saying they refuse to recognise that Parliament has already passed the Lokpal legislation.

"Delhi Lokayukta could have been amended without confrontation," she tweeted this morning.

Janlokpal is an Act!(PPT on http://t.co/aLJrE0dg1O) AAP refuses to recognise it! Delhi Lokayukta cld hav been amended without confrontation

— Kiran Bedi (@thekiranbedi) February 13, 2014

 

8.55 am: Kejriwal should wait for Centre's nod, says Sibal

Union Law Minister Kapil Sibal said Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal should wait for the Centre's consent before tabling the Bill in the Assembly.
"I don't want to comment on anybody's motives but when there are legal procedures in place, when there is a power legally vested in the Lt Guv, then the Lt Guv is well within his rights to advise the Delhi government to introduce the Bill till such time as the President gives his assent or seeks the views of the central govt," Sibal had said.

8.43 am: Delhi govt to introduce Jan Lokpal bill today

The Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi is likely to table the Jan Lokpal bill in the Assembly today, despite the Centre raising an objection saying the process was a violation of law.

PTI

"There is no rethinking in our position. We are going ahead with tabling of the Jan Lokpal Bill," a senior official in the AAP government told PTI.

AAP leader Prashant Bhushan told reporters that his party will seek voting on the introduction of the bill and if both - Congress and BJP - vote against it, then the government will resign.

The Congress, which currently provides support to the government from the outside, and the opposition BJP maintained the government would be violating "constitutional provisions" by not taking the approval of the L-G and the Centre before introducing the bill in the House.

"Despite knowing that the move (to not obtain prior approval from the Centre) is unconstitutional, Kejriwal is trying to justify it. The Congress will continue to support the government, but Kejriwal is creating a situation himself to leave the government," Delhi Congress president Arvinder Singh Lovely had said on Wednesday.