In a move that is likely to trigger a fresh tussle between the AAP government and Lieutenant-Governor V.K. Saxena, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Friday instructed officials to stop taking directions from Mr. Saxena and report any such orders to their respective Ministers.
“Any such orders received directly from the L-G are in violation of the Constitution and the Supreme Court’s directives. Implementation of such orders will be viewed seriously by the government,” the order from Mr. Sisodia’s office stated.
While Raj Niwas did not comment on the development, Delhi BJP spokesperson Harish Khurana termed AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal “a frustrated Chief Minister” who sought confrontation with the L-G.
All AAP Ministers have written to the secretaries of their respective departments seeking strict compliance with the Constitution, Transaction of Business Rules (TBR) and directives of the Supreme Court.
The order said as per the Constitution and directives of the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court dated July 4, 2018, the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) has exclusive executive control over all matters except three subjects: land, police and public order. “These three subjects are called reserved subjects. Those subjects over which GNCTD has executive control are called transferred subjects,” it stated.
In the case of transferred subjects, the proviso to Article 239AA(4) provides that the L-G may differ with the decision of the Council of Ministers on any of the transferred subjects. However, this difference of opinion must be exercised through a process prescribed in Rules 49, 50, 51 and 52 of the TBR, it said.
Over the last few months, the L-G has given directions directly to government officials under Rules 51 and 52 without following the procedure laid down in Rules 49 and 50. There are several examples of the L-G bypassing the elected government in violation of existing laws, the order said.
“They include but are not limited to the appointment of Haj Committee members, nomination of aldermen in the MCD, appointment of the presiding officer in the MCD, and issuance of prosecution sanction in cases of CrPC 196,” it said.
Commenting on the order, BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said it was an attempt by the AAP government to divert public attention from “corruption and irregularities in governance that have come to the fore in the past one year”.
“It has been made clear time and again that Delhi is a Union Territory where the L-G has supremacy in matters of services and the right to review every government decision or project. The L-G can directly call a meeting of officers,” Mr. Kapoor said.
