: Apprehensions regarding the contents of the Lieutenant Governor-constituted Shunglu Committee report surfaced on Monday, with the Delhi government asking the Supreme Court to stay any “precipitative action” from being taken on the report.
The government has asked for a stay till the apex court decides on the tussle between the Arvind Kejriwal government and the Centre about who controls Delhi.
400 files examined
The committee, led by former Comptroller and Auditor General V.K. Shunglu, submitted its report to L-G Najeeb Jung on Sunday. Set up by Mr. Jung on August 30, the committee examined over 400 files on decisions, including appointments, made by the AAP government.
A Bench of Justices A.K. Sikri and A.M. Sapre is hearing multiple Special Leave Petitions filed by the AAP government, challenging the Delhi High Court’s judgment of August, which said that the L-G was the administrative head of Delhi and all decisions required his approval.
Hearing on December 5
Remarking that the issue was “heavy”, the Bench has scheduled a detailed hearing for December 5.
Senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, appearing for the Delhi government, submitted that the petitions should be decided first and the Shunglu committee report should be kept in abeyance till then.
The High Court verdict had effectively shrunk the Kejriwal Cabinet’s administrative girth and confirmed the L-G as the final word in administering the Capital. The Delhi government has now highlighted the primary question of whether the dispute between the AAP and the Centre was a federal dispute under Article 131 of the Constitution, which only the Supreme Court can hear and decide.
“Classic” federal dispute
The High Court had, however, dismissed the Delhi government’s claim that the AAP-Centre tussle was a “classic” federal dispute.
The 194-page judgment had relegated the wrangle to the status of a mere political tug-of-war on “service matters” over which the High Court has full jurisdiction to adjudicate under Article 226 of the Constitution.
The High Court had observed that not every dispute between the Centre and a State government could be classified as a federal dispute.
Set up by the L-G, the Shunglu panel
examined files on decisions taken
by the AAP,
including the
appointments made
