In the battle between the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party and Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, the Supreme Court on Wednesday gave more power to the elected government in Delhi and limited the role of the L-G. “The Lieutenant Governor can’t act in a mechanical manner and refer all decisions of the council of ministers to the President. The L-G’s role can’t be obstructionist, he must work together with the council of ministers and respect their decisions,” Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra said while reading out the verdict of the five-judge Constitutional bench. In addition to the CJI, the bench comprised Justices AK Sikri, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan.
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The long drawn out battle between Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal will likely reach a conclusion on Wednesday as the Supreme Court is all set to declare its verdict on who is the administrative head of Delhi. The five-judge Constitutional bench of the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice of India Deepak Mishra, had concluded the hearings in December and has since reserved its verdict. On Wednesday, the apex court will deliver its verdict. In addition to the CJI, the bench comprised Justices AK Sikri, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan.
The tussle between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led Delhi government and the LG’s office had started as early as February 2015, after the AAP won a landslide majority in the Delhi Assembly. In 2015, the central government issued a notice saying the services department of the Delhi government would fall under the LG’s purview. This was in addition to three other subjects – land, police and public order – which fall with the Centre. This was compounded by the clash between then LG Najeeb Jung and Kejriwal when the AAP had set up an inquiry against the alleged CNG and DDCA scams. The AAP also bypassed the LG and made several top bureaucratic appointments without consulting Jung, who hit back reasserting himself by claiming himself to be the sole authority in matters of appointment.
The ugly spat between the two then went to the Judiciary, where the Delhi High Court delivered a severe blow to the AAP. In August 2016, the Delhi HC had said that the LG, not the CM, was the administrative head of the state. The HC bench in its judgment had said, “The… Lt. Governor of the NCT of Delhi shall in respect of matters connected with ‘Services’ exercise the powers and discharge the functions of the Central Government to the extent delegated to him from time to time by the President is neither illegal nor unconstitutional.”
The Delhi government then moved the Supreme Court, which concluded its hearing in December. In the seven months that the SC’s verdict has been reserved, the confrontation between AAP and the new LG Anil Baijal has refused to die down.
Last month, Kejriwal, along with three of his top ministers, held a nine-day dharna at the LG’s residence claiming that the LG, at the behest of the Centre, was engineering a bureaucratic rebellion. IAS officers in the Delhi Government, he claimed, had been on strike for four months which was preventing his government from doing their work.
The Delhi deadlock, between the elected AAP government on one hand and the Lieutenant Governor and bureaucracy on the other, finally came to an end nine days after the CM’s dharna. This was after the IAS Association had responded positively to Kejriwal’s olive branch, in which he assured them of their safety and urged them to come back to work.
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