The Supreme Court responded to the Delhi government’s plea today, which questioned the constitutionality of the Centre’s executive order governing the officials assigned there and declared there would be no hold on the order. However, in response to the Delhi government’s petition, the court has given the Centre a notice.
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud stated, “We will issue notice to amend the petition to implead the Lieutenant Governor.” The court will also hear the Delhi government’s plea over the Lieutenant Governor’s dismissal of 400 specialists, including fellows and research officers, during the next hearing on Monday.
Asserting that the Lieutenant Governor is “acting like a super CM,” Delhi had complained to the court in a plea it had submitted not long after the Centre had issued the executive order last month. The Supreme Court order, which said that only the Delhi government was in charge and was only issued a week ago, is superseded by the Ordinance.
According to the five-judge Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice Chandrachud, which had examined whether the Central government has administrative control over transfers and postings of civil servants in the national capital, the Lieutenant Governor has “no independent decision-making powers” other than those related to land, police, and public order.
The case began in 2018, when the Arvind Kejriwal administration filed a lawsuit, claiming that the Lieutenant Governor, who represents the Centre in Delhi, was routinely overruling its decisions.
One of the first sources of contention between Mr. Kejriwal’s administration and the Lieutenant Governor involved official transfers and appointments.
Mr. Kejriwal repeatedly bemoaned his inability to transfer or even designate a “peon” as an official. He further said that because the Home Ministry served as their cadre overseeing authority, bureaucrats did not follow his government’s directives.
