: The Delhi government on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that it was not seeking full statehood for Delhi but more administrative powers, contending that a “democratically elected government cannot be subservient to the Lieutenant Governor”.
Making a case for more administrative powers without the shadow of the Lt. Governor hanging over it, the Arvind Kejriwal government told a bench of Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice R.K. Agrawal, “it is inconceivable that in a Cabinet form of government, you have a titular head who is not accountable but interposes himself on every decision”. The observations were made by the Delhi government’s counsel during the hearing of its pleas, which challenged the Delhi High Court verdict upholding the primacy of the Lt. Governor in Delhi’s governance.
Telling the court that the Lt. Governor can remand back a decision by Delhi’s Council of Ministers for reconsideration, senior counsel Gopal Subramaniam said the question is “whether in the exercise of his discretion, he can nullify a decision of the Council of Ministers”. — IANS
