The BJP's Delhi unit on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court judgment over division of powers between the city government and the Centre, saying it was a lesson for "urban naxals" like Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
In a setback to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday gave a split verdict on the contentious issue of who should control administrative services but appeared to agree that the Centre has the final word.
Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari said it was a "lesson" for Kejriwal who always tried to cross the boundaries by adopting "unconstitutional" means.
"This verdict is a slap on the face of urban naxals like Arvind Kejriwal. Why, after all, he wants to go across the boundaries of the Constitution. He should now focus on work after this judgment," Tiwari said.
Kejriwal should respect the Constitution and learn the history of former chief ministers of Delhi like Madan Lal Khurana and Sahib Singh Verma, he said.
There should no scope for "confusion or conflict" and the AAP government should humbly accept the Supreme Court judgment, BJP's Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta said.
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"We welcome the Supreme Court decision removing ambiguities in the powers of the Delhi govt. After this verdict there shouldn't be any scope for confusion or conflict. The Delhi govt should humbly accept it & govern the capital as it was being done before they had come to power," he said on Twitter.
The Kejriwal-led AAP has reacted strongly to the apex court verdict, declaring it to be "unfortunate" and against the Constitution.
The Supreme Court also upheld the Centre's notification that its employees cannot be probed in corruption cases by the anti-corruption bureau of the Delhi government.
Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan referred the matter to a larger bench of the apex court.