New Delhi: Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal on Tuesday said that a bill to regularise 15,000 guest teachers in Delhi government schools is "beyond the legislative competence" of the assembly and asked Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to reconsider introduction of the proposed legislation in the house.
The bill approved by the Delhi Cabinet is slated to be introduced in the assembly's special session on Wednesday.
In an official statement here, Baijal said the matter involved is related to 'services' and quoted a High Court order: "The government of National Capital Territory of Delhi cannot claim any executive power in relation to matters with respect to 'services'."
The statement, quoting the High Court order, went on to add that 'services' is a matter in respect of which the Lt Governor is required to act in his discretion.
Baijal said the decision to introduce the bill in the assembly is not in accordance with the "constitutional scheme of governance of NCT of Delhi".
BJP MLA and Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta called the bill a "sheer populist measure without legal and constitutional framework".
In response, Aam Aadmi Party MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj said that the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party was trying to spread confusion regarding the bill.
"On the one hand, (Delhi BJP chief) Manoj Tiwari makes videos, asking the AAP government to bring a bill to regularise guest teachers. On the other hand, the BJP government-nominated L-G asks the Chief Minister not to present the bill," Bharadwaj said.
The AAP leader said that the Lt Governor last month had approved Delhi Cabinet's decision to regularise Kashmiri migrant teachers and asked how could there be a different law for regularising guest teachers.