The court had tried to do a balancing act between the two bitterly fighting power centres, laying down rules for Delhi's smooth governance.
The Delhi government's interpretation of Wednesday's Supreme Court order, which came to settle long-running fights for the city's control, is wholly erroneous, Union Minister Arun Jaitley has said.
Delhi is a Union Territory, and its position makes its powers subservient to the central government, he said in a Facebook on Thursday. It came in an apparent response to a fresh confrontation between the ruling AAP and bureaucrats.
Jaitley said the judgment has not added to, or taken away from, the powers of the Delhi government or the Centre. Delhi is not a state and, therefore, there could be no assumption that powers which belong to state governments also belong to Delhi's elected government, he said.
The court had tried to do a balancing act between the two bitterly fighting power centres, laying down rules for Delhi's smooth governance. But it has failed to ensure peace, given a tough stand adopted by CM Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia for control over bureaucracy.
It has been specifically held by the Supreme Court that it is crystal clear that by no stretch of imagination, Delhi can be accorded the status of a state under the present constitutional scheme, Jaitley said. "Any presumption that the Delhi government now controls the UT cadre of services would be wholly erroneous," he said.
The L-G continues to control matters such as land, policing and public order. The court said that except for these issues, the Delhi government has the power to legislate and govern.
The AAP government has claimed that the court order has allowed it to also control the services department that looks after the transfer and posting of IAS officers.
Jaitley said the judgment gives due importance to the opinion of the elected state government, but maintains the primacy of the central government in the larger interest of the national capital.
The court order had said Delhi's Lieutenant Governor (L-G), appointed by the Centre, cannot be an obstructionist, does not have independent decision-making powers and must listen to the city government.
But it had also said there is no room for absolutism and anarchism, in an indirect reference to frequent dharnas by Kejriwal, and his demand for absolute powers.
Jaitley also said the court made it clear the Delhi government has no police powers and, hence, it cannot set up an investigating agency to probe crimes committed in the past. The Delhi government has for a long time tried to take back the controls of the Anti-Corruption Branch from the L-G office.
The court order came on an appeal filed by the AAP government against a Delhi High Court order of 2016 that had made the Centre-appointed bureaucrat as the sole administrator of the national capital.
In February 2015, AAP surpassed the wildest of expectations and swept the Delhi Assembly elections. But the unprecedented mandate seemed to have been lost — amid ugly fights for greater control over the national capital. AAP has been saying that the L-G office blocks its decisions — an allegation denied by the Centre.
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Jaitley said the judgment has not added to, or taken away from, the powers of the Delhi government or the Centre. Delhi is not a state and, therefore, there could be no assumption that powers which belong to state governments also belong to Delhi's elected government, he said.
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