Delhi Congress President Ajay Maken on Friday criticised Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for appointing former Union minister P Chidambaram to represent the Aam Aadmi Party government in the Surpeme Court. His reaction came after reports said the Delhi government had brought the Congress leader on board to argue on its behalf for a plea challenging the Delhi High Court’s 2016 ruling that the Capital is under the administrative control of its lieutenant governor.
“Congratulations, Chidambaram! You have been exonerated by your one time critic,” Maken said on Twitter, sharing screenshots of Kejriwal’s old tweets on the former finance minister. “Would AAP now apologise?”
In 2014, Kejriwal had released a list of corrupt politicians, which included Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Chidambaram, among others.
A five-judge Constitution bench began to hear the petitions on Thursday. Senior lawyer Gopal Subramanium had made the opening arguments in court, claiming that an elected government cannot function without any power at all.
On Monday, Standing Counsel of the Delhi government Rahul Mehra had said that besides Subramanium, senior advocates such as P Chidambaram, Dr Rajeev Dhawan and Indira Jaising will argue on behalf of the Aam Aadmi Party government.
Confirming the news to NDTV on Friday, Chidambaram said, “I don’t think the Constitution makes the lieutenant governor supreme, and the government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi a toothless body.”
He is scheduled to appear in court during the next hearing on Tuesday.
The power tussle in Delhi
On August 4, 2016, the Delhi High Court had ruled that the lieutenant governor was the administrative head of the National Capital Region and rejected the AAP government’s contention that the person holding the post needed to act on the advice of the Delhi Cabinet. In its 194-page verdict, the High Court had said that the Union Territory’s Council of Ministers must confer with the lieutenant governor before making key decisions.
The Kejriwal government had moved the High Court after the Home Affairs Ministry passed a notification in May 2016, giving “unprecedented powers” on matters such as public order, police and services to then Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung.
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