A day after Delhi High Court dealt a crushing blow to Arvind Kejriwal government on the administrative powers in the national capital, Supreme Court too made some scathing observation for AAP government on Friday. We respect the decision of the Delhi High Court and I understand that the court arrived at its decision after examining various aspects of the matter. The lieutenant governor, who has been involved in a jurisdictional tussle with the AAP government in Delhi for a while, added that the high court ruling clarified that there were subjects related to services that he could handle that did not need the Centre’s approval.
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The AAP govt’s counsel in HC says they will immediately file an appeal against the verdict.
The judgement came after about a year-long hearing over the Centre’s two notifications which is behind the bitter turf war between LG Najeeb Jung and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over the Delhi administration.
A bench headed by justice Dipak Misra, however, restrained from any interference by the apex court on the issue, since the judgment at that point in time had been reserved by the Delhi high court. The Delhi government went to court to have its powers delineated in relation to the Centre.
Among other orders, the Delhi HC has said it is illegal to appoint nominee directors of the Delhi government on boards of Reliance Infra-backed BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd, BSES Yamuna Power Ltd and Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd by the Delhi Power Company Ltd.
The High Court has held that Delhi continues to be a Union Territory, and that the Lt. Governor of Delhi is not bound to act only on the “aid and advice” of the Delhi Legislative Assembly.
The bench asked senior advocate Indira Jaising, representing the AAP government: “Can you invoke both jurisdictions?”
The BJP mounted a severe attack on Kejriwal, accusing him of “spreading anarchy and vitriol” against the entire political class, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whom he has referred to as “psychopath” and “dictator” on different occasions. “What is the point in duplicating the proceedings?” the Supreme Court bench said.
He further said the fight is not between the Delhi Chief Minister and the LG, but between the government elected by the people and the selected government. And, hence, concurrence of the L-G in administrative issues is “mandatory”.
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Condemning the move, Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay said: “It seems the ban has been imposed through SDM as autocrat Mr. Kejriwal is in no mood to tolerate any democratic demonstration or protest against him”.
