Constitution Bench to hear Delhi-Centre spat

A two-judge Bench of the Supreme Court referred to a Constitution Bench a series of appeals filed by the Delhi government for laying down the law on whether the Lieutenant Governor (LG) can unilaterally administer the National Capital — without being bound by the “aid and advice” of the elected government.

A Bench of Justices A.K. Sikri and R.K. Agrawal referred the appeals to the Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar, who will constitute a Constitution Bench of the appropriate number of judges.

A question that arises now is whether the appeals would have to be heard by an eleven-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court. This is because a nine-judge Bench of the court had, in 1996, in the

NDMC versus State of Punjab case, recognised Delhi as a Union Territory for taxation purposes.

However, in his recent arguments before the two-judge Bench, senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, representing the Delhi government, submitted that the petitions did not seek full Statehood for Delhi, but were asking for more freedom for an elected government to administer and govern the National Capital.

The two-judge Bench said there were several questions of law that needed to be interpreted and settled by a Constitution Bench. Justice Sikri's Bench had heard the appeals, which were filed in August 2016, on a preliminary basis to decide whether the matter deserved to be referred to a larger Bench.

The batch of seven special leave petitions filed by the Delhi government has challenged the Delhi High Court’s August 4 judgment which upheld the LG’s power not only over the police, land and public order but also in “services”.