Follow govt orders on transfers or face action: Sisodia to babus AAP’S presumption of Supreme Court order ‘erroneous’, says Jaitley Minister silent on SC clipping LG’S wings, says AAP
FACEOFF Deputy CM issues a fresh order introducing a new system for transfers and postings of bureaucrats
NEWDELHI: The Delhi cabinet and its bureaucrats continued to be at loggerheads on Thursday, a day after the Supreme Court ruled that real power in Delhi was with the elected government and the lieutenant governor (L-G) was to abide by the “aid and advice” of council of ministers.
Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday once again asked principal secretary (services) Geetanjali Gupta to follow his earlier order on transfers of officers or face disciplinary action, including filing a contempt of court petition.
“I have, once again, directed the principal secretary (services) to issue the order as directed. I have informed the officer that non-compliance would lead to contempt of Supreme Court and the officer shall face disciplinary proceedings,” Sisodia said.
Later, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal also followed suit and said that defying the Apex court would invite “serious consequences”. “All officers should respect and obey the SC order. Open defiance of the SC order shall invite serious consequences,” he said.
On Wednesday, hours after the SC’S judgment, Sisodia had issued an order introducing a new system for transfer and postings of bureaucrats. The order made chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Sisodia and the five other ministers, the approving authority for transfers of IAS to Grade 1 rank officers within the Delhi government. Until now, the L-G, chief secretary and secretary (services) were responsible for such postings.
However, Sisodia’s order was rejected by chief secretary Anshu Prakash on Wednesday evening who said that the basis on which the order was issued was ‘legally untenable’.
While political executive said that the services department came back to the elected government after the SC’S verdict on Wednesday, bureaucrats believed that the department was still under the L-G as the notification with which this rule had come to effect in May, 2015, had not been quashed by the Apex court. The bureaucrats also said that the subject of ‘services’ is neither mentioned in the state or concurrent lists.
Principal secretary (services) Geetanjali Gupta, whom Sisoida issued fresh directions on Thursday, did not respond to calls and text messages for a response. Other bureaucrats HT spoke to said that if a case of contempt is filed against any officer, appropriate reply would be furnished.
Throughout the day on Thursday, Sisodia and other leaders of AAP said that the government is exploring its legal options and could move a contempt petition before the Supreme Court. “If officers still do not abide by my order issued on Thursday, and if the file is seen by the L-G, then it will amount to contempt of the Constitution bench. The SC’S judgment clearly states that all matters except land, public order and police are with the elected government,” Sisodia said.
“We are consulting our lawyers,” he said, adding that the SC’S verdict said the L-G need not, in a mechanical manner, refer every decision of his ministers to the President. He has to be guided by the concept of constitutional morality,” it said. NEW DELHI: Union minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said the “presumption” that the Supreme Court judgment had given the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi administrative powers over union territory (UT) cadre officers was “wholly erroneous”.
The top court on Wednesday had ruled that the Delhi lieutenant-governor cannot act independently and must take the aid and advice of the council of ministers, a decision Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal described as a “big victory for democracy”.
Within hours of the judgment, the Delhi government issued new rules for transfers and postings of bureaucrats where the CM is the approving authority. But the services department refused to comply, pointing out the order did not abolish the 2016 notification mandating this task to the Union ministry of home affairs.
Jaitley, however, said the order does not either add to the powers of the state government or the central government nor does it in any way dilute them.
“It [order] emphasises at the importance of elected State Government, but Delhi being a Union Territory makes its powers subservient to the Central Govern- ment,” he said in a blog.
Jaitley went on to add that there are several issues that had directly not been commented upon but by implication, there is an indication of those issues.
“There are two obvious indications. Firstly, if Delhi has no police powers, it cannot set up investigative agency to investigate crimes as had been done in the past. Secondly, the Supreme Court has held categorically that Delhi cannot compare itself at par with other States and, therefore, any presumption that the administration of the UT cadre of services has been decided in favour of the Delhi Government would be wholly erroneous,” he wrote.
The BJP leader pointed out that Delhi is not a state and, therefore, there could be no assumption that powers that belong to state government also belong to the elected government of the union territory.
“It has been specifically held by the Supreme Court that it is crystal clear that by no stretch of imagination, NCT of Delhi can be accorded the status of a state under the present constitutional scheme and the status of the lieutenant governor is not that of a governor of a state, rather he remains an administrator, in a limited sense, working with the designation of lieutenant governor,” he said. NEWDELHI: Reacting to Union minister Arun Jaitley’s blog on the SC’S verdict on the power tussle, the AAP on Thursday said he had chosen to comment on issues that were not placed before the apex court for adjudication.
AAP said Jaitley was silent on how the SC had “clipped the wings” of Delhi’s L-G. Jaitley in his blog said that it had been specifically held by the SC that “by no stretch of imagination, NCT of Delhi can be accorded the status of a state under the present constitutional scheme”.
AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj said Jaitley has “harped” on a constitutional fact that Delhi is not a state; it is a different matter that this was never a subject matter before the constitution bench. “Being an advocate, Jaitley must know that full statehood to Delhi can only be granted by Parliament of India. SC cannot change the Constitution...” Bharadwaj said in a statement on Thursday.