NEW DELHI: Differences over the Jan Lokpal Bill took an ugly turn on Friday, with Aam Aadmi Party spokesman Aashutosh accusing Delhi's lieutenant governor, Najeeb Jung , of working as a “Congress agent”.

“My opinion is that the LG is working as a Congress agent and trying to sully the image of AAP. As soon as the letter reaches the LG, it gets leaked to the media,” said Ashutosh.

The outburst followed reports that the LG had sought the solicitor-general's opinion on the Jan Lokpal Bill and the latter had stated that enacting the Bill without the Centre's clearance would be “unconstitutional”.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal too entered the fray on Friday, dashing off a letter to the LG, cautioning him against succumbing to pressure from the Congress, which he accused of trying to stall the passage of the Delhi Jan Lokpal Bill.

In an open attack on the party which is providing the AAP government “outside support”, Kejirwal wrote, “I know you (LG) are under tremendous pressure from the Congress and the home ministry. In the coming days they will put more pressure on you to prevent the assembly session from happening in the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium and not allow the Jan Lokpal Bill to be tabled. They will do this because they know that if this Bill is passed many of their partymen will go to jail. They will use your office to defame and malign my government and they will facilitate more such leaks.”

“You have to now decide if you will be able to rise above their pressures or fall victim to it. I would like to advise you that you have taken oath to protect the Constitution and its sovereignty and not to be faithful to the home ministry or a political party. Please don’t let the Constitution die,” wrote Kejirwal.

“Since yesterday, a news is being reported by the media that you have probably sought the opinion of the Solicitor General of India on the Jan Lokpal Bill. According to the reports the SG has opined that the Bill is unconstitutional and cannot even be presented in the Delhi assembly without permission of the President of India,” Kejirwal stated in his letter. “When I saw this news on television I was shocked as we sent you a copy of the Bill only on Thursday evening. So on which Bill did you ask for the solicitor-general's opinion and on which Bill did he give you the opinion?” asked the CM.

Making a direct attack on the LG, Kejriwal said, “Even if you sought some legal opinion you could have discussed the matter with me. I would have shown you a copy of the Bill and explained the matter, but instead the solicitor-general’s opinion was straightaway given to the media.”

“Except on three issues, the Delhi assembly has the power to make laws on all subjects. Only in cases where sections of a draft law passed by the Vidhan Sabha are not in consonance with a central legislation, then after approval from the assembly it is required to be sent to the President of India for approval as per section 239 AA (3)(C) of the Constitution. It is nowhere stated in the Constitution that prior to approval of the assembly the draft law needs to be approved by the Centre,” Kejriwal wrote.

He added that it is actually the central government’s order -- which directs Delhi government to seek central approval for draft laws before they are tabled in the assembly -- that is “unconstitutional”.

“If draft laws are to be first cleared by the Centre and then put up before the assembly they why do we need an elected government in Delhi? The central stricture is a direct attack on the autonomy of Delhi assembly,” he said.

He also wrote that the AAP government sought opinion of four renowned experts including retired Punjab & Haryana HC chief justice Mukul Mudgal and senior lawyers P V Kapoor, K N Bhatt and Pinaki Mishra. After taking their opinion into account, the Cabinet on February 3 passed a resolution to seek revocation of the central government directive and decided not to follow it till then. “I wanted to meet you on Friday and tell you all this but before that could happen media started showing the solicitor general’s view,” Kejirwal wrote.

The AAP government has already declared that it will go ahead with enacting the law, which it plans to introduce in the Delhi assembly on February 13 and discuss for two days before shifting the proceedings to a sports stadium for passage of the bill.

