A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday said that Delhi’s lieutenant governor cannot arbitrate on whether the decisions of the state government are correct, IANS reported. In case of disagreement, he can only refer the decisions to the president of India.
The Arvind Kejriwal-led government in Delhi has appealed to the Supreme Court against a 2016 Delhi High Court order which said that the lieutenant governor was the “administrative head” of the Capital and was not bound by the advice of the Council of Ministers. “Lieutenant governor does not have the jurisdiction to decide on the correctness or otherwise of the decisions of the Delhi government,” Chief Justice Dipak Misra said.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court bench said that it would decide only on matters of “law and principle” in the case, and leave individual points of conflict between the state government and the lieutenant governor to be decided by the Delhi High Court.
Additional Solicitor General Maninder Singh, appearing for the Centre, countered the Aam Aadmi Party government’s contention that the lieutenant governor did not clear files. He claimed that of the 6,300 proposals that were forwarded to the lieutenant governor in last three years, 96% had been cleared. Singh said that the lieutenant governor had absolute control over in three areas of administration – police, public order and land.
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