A democratically elected government should not be left without powers to even transfer officials: Kejriwal government in Supreme Court

Arguments continue in Supreme Court in battle for control over bureaucracy in the Capital

Opening its arguments against the Centre in their battle for control over the bureaucracy in the Capital, the Arvind Kejriwal government said Delhi was a “hybrid” with unique features leaning towards statehood.

Appearing before a Bench led by Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana, senior advocate A.M. Singhvi, for Delhi, said a democratically elected government should not be left without powers to even transfer officials.

The NCT government’s predicament without power over the ‘services’ has been like that of a king without a kingdom. The situation was such that a “democratic representative government” has to get the approval of the Lieutenant Governor to appoint a Health Secretary or a Commerce Secretary.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta made a prima facie submission that the case should be heard by a Constitution Bench and not a three-judge one as it involved several crucial constitutional questions of law.

But the CJI Bench decided to go ahead with Mr. Singhvi’s submissions for the Delhi government.

Mr. Singhvi, with advocate Shadan Farasat, referred to a Constitution Bench judgment of 2018 in which the Supreme Court had unanimously held that the Lieutenant Governor (L-G) of Delhi was bound by the “aid and advice” of the popularly-elected Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government and both have to work harmoniously with each other. It had noted that there was no room for anarchy or absolutism in a democracy.

Mr. Singhvi referred to the 2018 judgment which had held that except for issues of public order, police and land, the Lieutenant Governor was bound by the “aid and advice of the Kejriwal government, which has the public mandate.”