As Baijal invokes 2015 MHA notice, CM says refusal to follow SC verdict will lead to ‘anarchy’
On a day Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal cleared all “stuck” projects, including doorstep delivery of ration, lieutenant-Governor (l-G) Anil Baijal on Friday refused to give control of the Services Department to the city Government.
Following the Wednesday Supreme Court verdict which clipped the powers of the l-G except in matters related land, law & order and policing, the bone of contention between the Delhi Government and the
l-G office continues to be control over the Services Department.
The l-G said the Union Home Ministry’s 2015 notification that says the “Services” Department falls outside the purview of the Delhi legislative Assembly “continues to be valid” as the Supreme Court didn’t touch the issue.
However, Kejriwal, addressing the media after a 25-minute meeting with the l-G, the first after his nine-day sit-in at the l-G Secretariat, said the l-G’s refusal to hand over the Services Department to the elected city Government would be contempt of the SC and would lead to “anarchy” in the country.
The Chief Minister claimed it is the first time in the country’s history that the Central Government had openly refused to obey the apex court’s order.
late on Friday, the Centre asserted that it will be against the law to take a final view on the matter related to “services” as it is still pending before the Supreme Court, after Kejriwal alleged that the Union Government and the l-G were refusing to obey the apex court order on it. “The MHA has not advised the l-G to ignore any part of the SC order. This is a misleading statement,” the Union Home Ministry said, adding it has only advised the l-G, based on a reference received from him, to follow the law.
In his letter to Kejriwal, the l-G said “further clarity” regarding services matter and other issues will be achieved when the appeals pending before the regular Bench of the SC are finally disposed of.
In the letter, the l-G pointed to a 2015 Ministry of Home Affairs notification issuing “Presidential directions” under Article 239 and 239AA of the Constitution.
It said “services” falls outside the purview of the legislative Assembly of the NCT of Delhi and consequently the Government of the national Capital Territory of Delhi will have no executive powers in relation to “Services”.
“The said notification was also upheld by the High Court of Delhi in its judgment on August 4, 2016. In the wake of the judgment of the learned Constitutional Bench of Supreme Court, the MHA has advised that as per concluding paras of judgment, the nine appeals, including the one relating to ‘Services’ shall be taken up by the learned regular Bench and the MHA notification dated 21.05.2015 continue to be valid,” the letter said.
The l-G in his letter to Kejriwal said the SC’s entire judgment and its implications are still being studied.
“The l-G invited the Chief Minister’s kind attention to para-249 of the judgment wherein the Supreme Court has observed that the set-up in the NCT of Delhi is one where the Council of Ministers headed by the Chief Minister on one hand and the l-G on the other are a team, a pair on a bicycle built for two with the President as its rider who retains the general control,” the l-G’s office said in a statement.
Earlier in the day, the CM directed the Food Department to immediately implement the doorstep delivery of rations.
Baijal had objected to the Delhi Government’s ambitious proposal of doorstep delivery of rations and asked the AAP dispensation to consult the Centre before executing it.