In a blow to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, a constitution bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday observed that Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government cannot ‘sit on files beyond a reasonable period’ and they would need Lieutenant Governor’s ‘approval’ to govern the national capital.
According to media reports, the court said, “He (LG) must exercise his power in reasonable time with reasons.”
SC observes, prima facie, that LG has primacy over Delhi government through a provision in Article 239AA, acording to media reports.
Delhi was given an Assembly and an elected government through Article 239 (AA) in the Constitution by the 69th amendment in 1991.
The constitution bench was referred to a batch of petitions, by Supreme Court, filed by the Delhi government over the conflict with the Union government.
The Delhi government had moved to Supreme Court challenging High Court 2016 ruling that, the Lieutenant Governor was the national capital’s boss and had primacy over the elected government.