In a major setback to the Aam Aadmi Party, the Supreme Court on Thursday gave the control of the anti-corruption bureau to the central governmnet and not the Delhi government. The court gave its verdict on petitions seeking clarity on the powers of the Delhi government and the Lieutenant Governor. The two judges were divided over transfers and have referred it to a bigger bench.
AAP responded to the statement by saying ‘tareeq pe tareeq.’
तारीख पर तारीख…#DelhiVsCenter #Services pic.twitter.com/9ol2II7AA5
— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) February 14, 2019
On transfers of Joint Secretaries of Delhi and above, the Lieutenant Governor – who represents the centre — has the power, Justice AK Sikri said. For officers of the Delhi Andaman and Nicobar Civil Services cadre, the power is with Delhi, he says.
However, Justice Ashok Bhushan had a different view. Lawyers representing the Aam Aadmi Party administration had told the court that ambiguities remained in dealing with administrative matters of the national capital in spite of the previous judgment delivered by a five-judge constitution bench headed by then Chief Justice Dipak Misra.
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The main highlights of the judgement are
- Control of Delhi ACB with Centre
- Power to appoint Commission of Inquiry with Centre
- Power to appoint Spl public prosecutors with Delhi govt
- Appointment of directors under the Electricity Act, revision of agricultural land rate with Delhi
Supreme Court has referred the issue to a 3-judge bench to decide whether the Delhi government or Lieutenant Governor should have jurisdiction over ‘Services’ in National Capital Region.
On November 1, Justices Sikri and Ashok Bhushan had concluded hearing petitions challenging notifications issued by the Arvind Kejriwal government in the wake of the top court verdict.
The Delhi government has been in a turf war first with Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung and later with Anil Baijal who assumed office in December 2016.
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