The Delhi government should have some powers to be able to function properly, the Supreme Court observed on Wednesday while hearing a plea filed by the Aam Aadmi Party-ruled administration against a Delhi High Court ruling from August. The high court had upheld the lieutenant governor as the administrative head of the Delhi-National Capital Region. “The matter needs to be decided fast,” said a bench of justices AK Sikri and AM Sapre, scheduling the final hearing for January 18, reported PTI.
The counsel for the Delhi government, Gopal Subramaniam, argued that under the constitutional scheme of things, the council of ministers is required to give its advice to the lieutenant governor. However, he pointed out that the high court verdict had nullified this provision and pronounced the advice of the council of ministers as not binding upon the lieutenant governor. If the ruling stands, the “elected government in Delhi cannot appoint the chief secretary or cannot even a class IV officer by itself,” Subramaniam said.
The advocate also sought a stay order on the high court’s decision to allow the lieutenant governor to appoint the three-member Shunglu committee, which was set up in August to examine 400 files on the decisions made by the AAP government. Subramaniam also requested that lawyers appointed by the Delhi government should be allowed to represent the government. However, Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar argued that lawyers from the Ministry of Law and Justice’s central agency had been overseeing the affairs of all Union Territories since 1950.
On August 4, the Delhi High Court had dismissed the AAP’s contention that Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung must act on the advice of the Delhi Cabinet. The high court bench had also stated that it was not unconstitutional for a lieutenant governor to exercise their powers on service matters. The court had heard nine petitions on the power tussle between the Delhi government and the lieutenant governor.
The AAP government had moved the high court after the Ministry of Home Affairs had passed a notification on May 21 giving “unprecedented powers” to the lieutenant governor. The new document replaced an older one that was put in place in 1998. Earlier, the lieutenant governor had to consult the acting chief minister of the region regarding matters related to public order, police and services. However, according to the new notice, the authority can independently decide on such matters in the NCR.
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