The Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government is yet to find a Supreme Court Bench willing to hear its petition, with the second Bench led by Justice Anil R. Dave also recusing itself from the case on Tuesday. The petition had sought clarity on the scope and boundaries of the constitutional relationship between it and the Centre in administering the National Capital.
Considering that Justice J.S. Khehar had excused himself from the case on July 4, this is the second Bench of the apex court unwilling to hear the petition in as many days.
The file on the case, like on Monday, will now return to Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur, who will refer it to a fresh Bench.
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The Delhi government counsel and senior advocate Indira Jaising made an urgent mention before Chief Justice Thakur's Bench, saying Justice Dave's court had orally conveyed its decision to bow out of the case.
The petition was listed as item number 45 in court number 2 presided over by a Bench of Justices Dave and L. Nageshwara Rao. In fact, it was Justice Rao, the puisne judge on the Bench, who decided to recuse.
Simmering stand-offADVERTISEMENT
This special leave petition was primarily directed against Delhi High Court's decision on May 24 to reserve its verdict on the stand-off between Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung and the Kejriwal government over who has authority to appoint bureaucrats in the Capital.
It contended that the tussle between the Centre and the Delhi government is a “federal” dispute which the apex court, not the Delhi High Court, should decide.
The tensions between the NDA government and Mr. Kejriwal has affected every arm of governance in Delhi over the months even as about a dozen petitions are pending in the High Court in which they contest each other's right to administer and govern the National Capital.