Terming Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s order to officers to not route files through the Raj Niwas as “unconstitutional, illegal and invalid”, lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung on Wednesday cancelled it. Jung directed the Chief Secretary to follow the procedures of transaction of business rule. Reminding that Delhi is not a full-fledged State, Jung wrote a terse letter to Kejriwal and stated that Delhi is a Union Territory with a legislative Assembly but certainly not a State as envisaged in the Constitution.
“The Chief Minister and the Council of Ministers in a State in case of Delhi do not have powers akin to powers of Chief Minister in a State even though there may be similarity in case of legislative Assembly and elections thereto. The special Provision under Article 239AA is in the nature of a hybrid arrangement. Every Union Territory is administered by the President i.e. the Central Government. The relation between the Council of Ministers and the Governors in States is entirely different and distinct from that between the Council of Ministers and the lieutenant Governor,” the l-G said.
Jung called Kejriwal’s order a violation of the Constitution three days back. “Your (Kejriwal) final direction that no officer should follow orders of the l-G and the files should be first submitted to the Minister or the Chief Minister creates a situation which is unknown and alien to the Constitutional framework stipulated for Delhi. In matter exclusively within the fold and sphere of l-G there can be no question of their first being examined by another authority whosoever be it,” the letter said.
“The Transaction of Business Rules are framed under Article 77 (in this case Article 239AA) and the purpose is for convenient TBR. These rules have nothing to do with capacity and powers to legislate or exercise executive functions. The legislative Assembly as also the executive domains in the Government held by the Chief Minister has no jurisdiction whatsoever in matters related to public order, police, land and services. In these areas, l-G must exclusively act on the direction of the Central Government and within the contours of such delegation made to him. The question of difference of opinion does not arise in such matters,” the l-G said. The l-G also cleared that Delhi Assembly has no powers to make laws and this is generally referred to as the reserved sphere or field.