Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi today said the Supreme Court verdict has made it clear the NCT of Delhi and the southern union territory stood on a different footing, a day after Chief Minister V Naranayansamy asserted the order was applicable to the former french colony too.
As she tagged excerpts of the apex court order related to this aspect in social media, Narayanasamy accused her of sending 'wrong information' to officials and the media and stuck to his stand that the verdict on powers of Lt Governor of Delhi was applicable to Puducherry also.
The differing stands of Bedi and Narayanasamy on the apex court order indicated that the ongoing confrontation between them on their respective powers is unlikely to end soon.
The Congress government headed by Narayanasamy has been accusing Bedi of infringing on its powers and obstructing the functioning of the elected government, a charge denied by her.
The Supreme Court had yesterday clarified that Puducherry cannot be compared with the case of Delhi as it is governed by a provision which is different from that concerning the national capital.
It had said that Puducherry was covered under Article 239A whereas NCT of Delhi is covered under Article 239AA.
The court made the mention about Puducherry while clipping the powers of the Delhi Lt Governor saying he was bound by the elected government's advice and cannot be an "obstructionist".
The verdict prompted a demand for its replication in Puducherry, with Narayanasamy yesterday warning he would launch legal proceedings if the verdict was violated.
Bedi in a tweet today tagged the portion of the court order which mentioned about Puducherry.
"These are the words of Honble Supreme Court in Govt of NCT of Delhi vs Union of India and Another. Honurable Court has made a clear distinction between the two. Delhi as a UT and Puducherry as a UT," the former IPS officer said.
Replying to questions from reporters at an event in Chennai, Bedi read out the portion, but declined to say anything more.
Narayanasamy, whose government is locked in a running battle with Bedi on various issues in the past two years, hurriedly convened a press conference to rebutt the Lt Governor's assertion.
He maintained that the apex court order on the powers of the elected government vis-a-vis the Lt Governor in a case filed by the Delhi Chief Minister is totally applicable for Puducherry also.
He said both Puducherry and Delhi have elected Assemblies adding "the Lt Governor cannot take independent decisions and is bound by the aid and advice of the council of Ministers as pointed out by the Supreme court in its historic and path- breaking judgement yesterday."
The chief minister also said he would write to Bedi registering his protest against her message to officials and the media on the court order.
"This is a wrong information and I will register my protest by writing a letter," he said adding the elected government in the union territory had more powers than what was available to the national capital territory of Delhi.
He claimed Article 239A of the Constitution relating to Puducherry contained clear statutory provisions on the powers of the elected government here.
"The Lt Governor cannot obstruct or stand in the way of decisions of the ministry," he added.
Narayanasamy said in so far as Puducherry was concerned once an assembly came into being all the powers would vest with the assembly and the elected ministry and this conferred full powers to the ministry and clipped the authority of the Lt Governor.
He further said only when differences of opinion arose between the ministry and Lt Governor on any major policy decision would it be referred to the President for clarification.
"No trivial matters on which differences arise should be sent to the President," he said adding the verdict was pronounced by the Constitution Bench of the apex court.
This verdict is therefore applicable for all the union territories with Assemblies, state governments and Governors all over the country, Narayanasamy said.
He also referred to the views expressed by constitutional experts like Soli Sorabjee on the immediate application of the verdict of the apex court for Puducherry also.
The chief minister said the working of officers here would also be monitored in the wake of the verdict to ensure that there was no deviation from the court's judgement.
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