L-G to Call Shots in Delhi, Chief Minister Subservient

New Delhi: Lieutenant Governor (LG) Najeeb Jung will continue to have the final say in the appointment and transfer of top officials of the Delhi government for now as both the Supreme Court and the Delhi High Court on FRiday refused to alter the existing power equations between the Centre, Delhi and the LG.

While the Delhi government had gone to the HC challenging the Union Home Ministry’s May 21 notification granting discretionary powers to the LG in official appointments, the Centre had questioned the validity of the May 25 HC ruling by a single judge undermining the notification.

Both the SC and the HC issued notice on the respective petitions, but categorically refused to pass any stay order.

In a sort of relief to the Centre, the SC Bench headed by Justice AK Sikri asked the HC to adjudicate the Delhi government’s case without getting influenced by the verdict of the single judge Bench. However, the Kejriwal government also managed a similar relief in the HC as Justice Rajiv Shakdher asked the Centre to consider the state’s plea for referring all disputes on appointments to the President.

Justice Shakdher granted six-week time to the Centre to respond to the Kejriwal government’s petition against the May 21 notification. In its response, the Centre should also give details of the practices being followed in other Union Territories and quasi-states like Delhi for the appointment of bureaucrats, the HC said.
The SC Bench, which included Justice UU Lalit, allowed three-week time to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi to respond to the contentions in the Centre’s petition.

The Centre had gone to the apex court against the HC’s May 25 verdict questioning the Home Ministry’s authority to strip the Delhi government’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of its power to probe and arrest Delhi police personnel in graft cases.

The Centre pleaded in the SC that the HC had unnecessarily gone into the scope of a Constitutional provision (Article 239AA) for deciding the bail plea of a constable of the Delhi police, under the Union Home Ministry. The HC’s findings had no legal sanction, particularly because it had given the ruling without even seeking the views of the Centre on the issue, it contended.

Both the Centre and the Delhi government sought stay orders in their respective petitions, but the SC and the HC rejected their pleas, observing that this would be considered only after getting the views of the respondents.
The feud between the Centre and Kejriwal had reached flashpoint following the recent appointment of Shakuntala Gamlin as the Chief Secretary by the LG, ignoring objections by the AAP government.

(MNFA)