Withdraw this Authoritarian Ordinance

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement:

Withdraw this Authoritarian Ordinance

The Polit Bureau strongly condemns the Central government ordinance to nullify the recent Supreme Court judgement by a five member Constitution bench upholding the rights of the elected government of Delhi over major areas of governance including control of the bureaucracy. Not only does this constitute contempt of court, it is a direct assault on the federal character of the constitution and the norms of accountability and democratic governance as defined by the Supreme Court. This defiance of the highest court of the land is a measure of the blatant authoritarian nature of the Modi government. The spurious reasons given that it is in the national interest is an open insult to the court as though the constitution bench was oblivious of national interest when it gave its landmark judgement.

This concerns not just the people and government of Delhi but all citizens concerned with the bulldozing of the constitutional federal framework by the central government. It must be opposed. CPI(M) demands its withdrawal.

(Muralidharan)

For CPI(M) Central Committee Office