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On a day when senior bureaucrat Shakuntala Gamlin took charge as Delhi’s “acting chief secretary” despite Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal directing her not to, the state’s tussle with Lt Governor Najeeb Jung went one notch up with Kejriwal later seeking an appointment with President Pranab Mukherjee to “apprise him on Delhi’s situation”.
On Saturday, Kejriwal wrote to Jung “strongly requests(ing)” him to work within the “confines” of the Constitution, stating that “this is a thinly disguised attempt to render the democratically elected govt “ineffective”. The Lt Governor shot back asserting that he was acting within his constitutional rights. He also put on record that he was declaring ‘void’ the chief minister’s order on the removal of Arindam Majumdar, principal secretary (services) from his position. Majumdar had issued Gamlin’s appointment letter.
Later in the day, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia told PTI, “The BJP, through the Lt Governor of Delhi, has attempted a coup against the democratically elected government of Delhi with the highest ever mandate in the history of the state.” Sisodia, who also holds charge of the services department, alleged that this was the first time that a Lt Governor was issuing direct instruction to officers, bypassing the chief ministers and council of ministers. “The Constitution, GNCT Act of Delhi and Transaction of Business Rules clearly define what LG can do,” he said. “In case of a dispute or difference of opinion between the Lt Governor and the council of ministers, the former could have called the ministers concerned to discuss the matter.”
Gamlin, currently serving as secretary in the power department, had been appointed as acting chief secretary by Jung as Chief Secretary KK Sharma is on vacation. Kejriwal had opposed her appointment on the ground that she had close links with power distribution companies, an allegation that Gamlin dismissed as baseless.
The spat continues the fight for administrative jurisdiction over Delhi between the government and the Lt Governor’s office. Last week, the point of friction was the authority to decide the postings of Delhi Police officers.
Observing that “both should be co-operating with each other”, Rajeev Dhavan, senior advocate of the Supreme Court, told Business Standard, “Constitutionally, the Lt Governor has to act on the advice of the chief minister on all subjects barring the three ‘reserved subjects’ of land, law and order and police) and that advice is binding on the Lt Governor.”
SK Sharma, former secretary of the Delhi Assembly and a constitutional expert, explains, “Constitutionally, land, police, law and order rests exclusively with the Centre and so the Lt Governor and the chief minister have nothing to do with these, not even the Legislative Assembly of Delhi. Till date, six chief ministers of Delhi have not had any dispute with this arrangement.”
Article 239AA of the Constitution says the Lt Governor is the representative of state authority in Delhi. “There is very clear demarcation of powers,” says Shailaja Chandra, chief secretary of Delhi from 2002 to 2004. “While issues and files pertaining to the ‘reserved subjects’ never go to the chief minister, files relating to ‘transferred subjects’ need not go to the Lt Governor except when it is of a sensitive nature or a matter of policy or legislation.” Chandra says that in Delhi where a “diarchy” exists like it does in several other capital cities of the world, the two authorities have to work by actively engaging with each other.
Some analysts explain the stand-off in terms of the Aam Aadmi Party’s goals to get full statehood for Delhi. To justify the demand for full statehood, they say, Kejriwal is playing up the “obstructions”, in the form of the dual authority, in the path to good governance in the capital.
Meanwhile, the Congress has appealed to both the BJP and AAP to stop playing politics in Delhi. Randeep Surjewala, in charge of the party’s communication, says, “This is an extension of the ego war between the two parties. The chief minister should focus on governance instead of running away from responsibility. And the BJP is still smarting from its tremendous defeat in Delhi.”
