The Supreme Court today handed a major victory to Delhi's AAP government in its bitter power tussle with the Centre by ruling that the Lieutenant Governor (LG) has no independent power to take decisions and is bound by the elected government's advice.
The landmark judgement by a five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra laid down broad parameters for the governance of the national capital, which has witnessed the power struggle between the Centre and Delhi government since the Aam Aadmi Party formed government in 2014.
There were two LGs -- incumbent Anil Baijal and his predecessor Najeeb Jung -- with whom Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was at loggerheads, accusing both of them of preventing the functioning of his government at the behest of the Centre.
The ruling vindicates Kejriwal, who has long accused the LG of preventing his government from functioning properly at the behest of the Centre. It also lays down for the first time clear guidelines for the LG's conduct, and delineates the powers of the two branches of the executive in Delhi, which does not have the status of a full state yet elects its own MLAs and government.
The apex court said that barring three issues of public order, police and land, the Delhi government has the power to legislate and govern on other issues.
"The LG has not been entrusted with any independent decision-making power. He has to either act on the 'aid and advice' of Council of Ministers or he is bound to implement the decision taken by the President on a reference being made by him," CJI Misra, who penned the 237-page lead verdict for himself and on behalf of Justices A K Sikri and A M Khanwilkar, said.
However, the judgement made it clear that Delhi cannot be accorded the status of a state under the constitutional scheme.
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"It is clear as noon day that by no stretch of imagination, NCT of Delhi can be accorded the status of a State under our present constitutional scheme," it said.
"The status of NCT of Delhi is sui generis, a class apart, and the status of the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi is not that of a Governor of a State, rather he remains an Administrator, in a limited sense, working with the designation of LG," the verdict said.
Observing that the Constitution was "constructive", it also made it clear that "there is no room for absolutism. There is no space for anarchy."
Justice D Y Chandrachud, who wrote a 175-page separate concurring verdict, said "the LG must bear in mind that it is not he, but the council of ministers which takes substantive decisions and even when he invokes the proviso, the LG has to abide by the decision of the President."