President of India Draupadi Murmu gives nod for Delhi Services Bill

The highly controversial 'Delhi Services Bill' (National Capital Region Amendment Bill-2023) has been enacted into law after President Draupadi Murmu has given her assent to the bill, which had been approved by both houses of Parliament. The Delhi Services Act is now in effect.

In May of this year, the Supreme Court ruled that the Delhi government has control over transfers and appointments of government officials, including IAS officers, in the capital city. However, the following day, the central government issued an ordinance on transfers of officials in Delhi. The National Capital Region Service Authority was established to make decisions on transfers, appointments, and disciplinary actions of Group A officers. The committee consists of the chief minister of Delhi as the chairman, the chief secretary to the government, and the home secretary as members.

While the chief minister is part of the committee, the other two members are under the control of the central government. The ordinance states that transfer and appointment of employees will be made based on the majority decision of the committee. If there is no consensus, the Lieutenant Governor (LG) will have the final decision. This effectively gives all the power to the central government. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government expressed strong opposition to this ordinance.

To replace this ordinance, the central government introduced the 'Delhi Services Bill' during the recent monsoon session of Parliament. The opposition alliance, 'India', strongly opposed the bill. Despite protests from the opposition, the bill was approved first by the Lok Sabha and then by the Rajya Sabha. It has now become law with the President's approval.

Moreover, the President has given assent to other bills, including the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Bill, and Jan Vishwas (Amendment) Bill. The Data Protection Act aims to strengthen the digital rights of citizens and crack down on companies that misuse personal information. The act includes provisions for imposing fines ranging from a minimum of Rs. 50 crores to a maximum of Rs. 250 crores on companies found guilty of misusing information, even if digital users' privacy cannot be protected.