Ministers in Delhi government have power over their departments, Centre tells SC

It says the Kejriwal government is trying to create a “perception” that Lieutenant Governor has hogged all power

January 11, 2023 09:05 pm | Updated 09:05 pm IST - NEW DELHI

A view of the iconic Kartavya Path in New Delhi. File

A view of the iconic Kartavya Path in New Delhi. File | Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

The Centre on Wednesday began its counter in the Supreme Court with the submission that the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government is trying to create a “perception” that the Lieutenant Governor has hogged all power and bureaucrats owe allegiance to the Centre and not the elected Aam Aadmi Party regime in the national capital.

Appearing before a Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, for the Centre, said there had been several governments in power in the Centre and in Delhi since the 69th Constitutional Amendment Act of 1991 introduced the dual mechanism of governance in the National Capital Territory of Delhi.

“Since 1992, there were several occasions where both governments belonged to different political ideologies and dealt with each other with political maturity… From 1992 to till date, I am told there were only seven occasions when matters were referred to the President due to differences of opinion between the Lieutenant Governor [LG] and the elected government in Delhi,” Mr. Mehta said.

Since the Constitution Bench judgment in 2018, which settled the constitutional scheme between the LG and the Delhi government on governance, 18,000 files were sent to the LG, and all were cleared by him, Mr. Mehta said.

Also read: Explained | The office of the Governor: its origins, powers, and controversies

‘No single complaint’

“Decisions are implemented by the respective Ministers. Bureaucrats are accountable to the Council of Ministers… We have not received a single complaint that an officer is not implementing the decisions of the Cabinet. We have a cadre controlling authority. We can departmentally prosecute an officer who does not do his duty… This is a castle built in the air by them,” Mr. Mehta submitted.

Mr. Mehta said the national capital essentially belonged to the nation. The national government, which was also made up of elected representatives of the people, had a stake in the capital. The national government was not made up of “aliens”.

He said the Ministers in the Delhi government had power over their respective departments. The internal administrative authority of the Chief Minister and his Ministers was unquestionable. The collective responsibility over the capital’s governance shared between the Centre and the Delhi government must also be respected.

Chief Justice Chandrachud said the control had to look into whether the control over public services lay in one or the other or whether there was a median.

“The concern raised here is whether the control over public services would exclusively vest with the representative government in Delhi once officers are allocated to the Union Territory, as it is only with control over the officers that policies can be implemented… Or when does control over public services go into the realm of the national government,” the CJI observed.

The Constitution Bench is hearing the tussle between the Centre and the Delhi government over who has control over civil servants.

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