Terming the Supreme Court’s verdict in the Centre Vs Delhi government case ”historic”, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday announced a big administrative reshuffle to be effected in a few days.
Vindicated by the apex court judgement, Arvind Kejriwal said now the pace of work will increase by ten times.
Kejriwal’s remarks came after the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that it is ideal to hold that a democratically elected Delhi government should have control over its officers and the Lt Governor (LG) is bound by the advice of the elected government in everything other than public order, police, and land.
The apex court stressed that if the government is not able to control and hold to account the officers posted in its service, then its responsibility towards the legislature as well as the public is diluted.
Addressing a press conference here, Kejriwal said, “We had a responsibility earlier also, but that responsibility was without power. Now, the Supreme Court has also given us the power to fulfill the responsibility.”
“We thank Justice DY Chandrachud and all the judges of the bench for this decision, I want to congratulate the people of Delhi,” he said.
On the administrative reshuffle, Kejriwal said, “Many government employees and officers will be transferred. Because of the earlier administration, Jal Board payment was stopped and hindrance was made in establishing Mohalla clinics. Such officers will have to bear the consequences of their misdeeds.”
He, however, assured that an opportunity will be given to honest officers and employees who want to serve the public.
Earlier in a tweet in Hindi, Kejriwal hailed the verdict, “Heartfelt thanks to the Supreme Court for doing justice to the people of Delhi. With this decision, the pace of development of Delhi will increase manifold. Democracy won.”
Meanwhile, AAP supporters celebrated outside the Delhi Secretariat after the Supreme Court’s verdict.
A Constitution bench of the Supreme Court, in a unanimous verdict, said that the Delhi government must have control over services, and the Lieutenant Governor is bound by its decision.
The five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said: “The ideal conclusion would be that GNCTD (Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi) ought to have control over ‘services’, subject to exclusion of subjects which are out of its legislative domain. If services are excluded from its legislative and executive domain, the ministers and the executive who are charged with formulating policies in the territory of NCTD would be excluded from controlling the civil service officers who implement such executive decisions.”
The bench, also comprising Justices M R Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli, and P S Narasimha, observed that in a democratic form of government, the real power of administration must reside in the elected arm of the state, subject to the confines of the Constitution.
It stressed that an unaccountable and a non-responsive civil service may pose a serious problem of governance in a democracy, and creates a possibility that the permanent executive, consisting of unelected civil service officers, who play a decisive role in the implementation of government policy, may act in ways that disregard the will of the electorate.