Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal met Home Minister Rajnath Singh to discuss the new impasse between the Delhi government and the Lieutenant Governor over the number of subjects on which the L-G’s approval is to be required.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting with the Home Minister, Kejriwal said, “We told him that L-G and the Centre are interpreting the order in a strange manner. They say that we will obey half the order.”
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief said that while the Supreme Court order clearly states that the concurrence of the L-G is not required for decisions taken in subjects other than Police, Land and Law-Order, the L-G is not obeying this order.
“They say that when Division Bench issues its judgment, we will obey. How can you say that you will obey half of the judgment of the Constitution Bench and half of the Division Bench? In this way they will even hold up the SC like they did the Delhi govt,” said Kejriwal.
The CM added that the Home Minister heard the concerns of the Delhi government and assured that he will discuss the matter with his officers.
On 4 July, the Supreme Court ruled that position of the Lieutenant-Governor of Delhi was not that of a Governor but an administrator only “in a limited sense”.
Two days later, the CM alleged that the Ministry of Home Affairs has told Baijal to ignore the prt of the Supreme Court order which limits the L-G’s power to just three areas.
“MHA has advised LG to ignore that part of SC order, which restricts LG’s powers to only 3 subjects. V dangerous that central govt advising LG not to follow Hon’ble SC’s orders,” alleged Kejriwal on Twitter on 6 July.
“Have sought time from Sh Rajnath Singh ji to urge him to follow Hon’ble SC’s orders,” he added.
MHA has advised LG to ignore that part of SC order, which restricts LG’s powers to only 3 subjects. V dangerous that central govt advising LG not to follow Hon’ble SC’s orders.
Have sought time from Sh Rajnath Singh ji to urge him to follow Hon’ble SC’s orders.
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) July 6, 2018
The Chief Minister has accused Baijal of openly refusing to agree that Services Department was under the control of the elected government because a 2015 central Home Ministry order had not been quashed by the Supreme Court in its 4 July.
“This is for the first time in the history of India that the Central government has openly refused to accept a Supreme Court ruling. If it becomes a precedent, there will be anarchy,” Kejriwal told reporters after a meeting with the L-G in which Baijal had assured the Delhi CM of his “continued support”.
On 9 July, the Delhi CM shot off a letter to Baijal asking him why he was being “selective” on implementation of the Supreme Court order, which last week cleared the role of the L-G in the administration of Delhi.
In his letter Kejriwal asked the L-G to either follow the order in its entirety or reject the entire order outright.
Read More: Kejriwal questions L-G over ‘selective’ implementation of SC order
“How can you be selective in accepting the judgment? Either you should take a position that all the matters would now be placed before regular bench and therefore, you would not implement any part of the order. Or you should accept the whole order and implement it. How can you say that you will accept this para of the order but not accept that para of the same order?” Kejriwal asked.
“If you have any confusion, kindly approach Honourable SC immediately for clarification but kindly don’t violate the SC order,” he wrote.