L-G has power to control services in Delhi, SC told
NEWDELHI: The Centre on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that the Lieutenant Governor (L-G) has the power to regulate services in Delhi. The powers are delegated to the administrator of Delhi and the services can be administered t hrough him, it said.
The Centre also said that unless the President of India expressly directs, the L-G, who is the administrator of Delhi, cannot consult the chief minister or the council of ministers.
Senior advocate C S Sundaram, appearing for the Centre , told a bench of Justice A K Sikri and Justice Ashok Bhushan that the powers are delegated to the administrator by the Union of India. “The L-G is entrusted with the power to consult the chief minister or council of ministers, if such powers are given by the President under Article 239 of the Constitution,” Sundaram said.
He added that it was not the first time that Delhi and the Centre had governments of different parties but it was the first time that dispute over the control of services has reached the court.
He also said that there cannot be executive powers without the source of power, and what was said in the S Balakrishna committee report was translated into the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) Act. “It was said that executive powers co-exists with the legislative powers, but when there are no legislative powers then from where do the executive powers come,” he added.
Sundaram said that the powers of LG are different from those of a governor, as the discretionary powers are given to the former in the Constitution as well as any other provisions under the law, while the latter is given powers only under the Constitution.
The hearing remained inconclusive and would continue tomorrow.
On October 4, the Delhi gov- ernment had told the apex court that it wanted its petitions relating to governance of the national capital be heard soon as it did not want “stalemate to continue in administration”.
The Delhi government had told the top court that it wanted to know where it stands with regard to the administration in view of the Constitution bench verdict of apex court on July 4. The court had then listed the matters for today.
The five-judge bench had on July 4 laid down broad parameters for governance of the national capital, which has witnessed a power struggle between the Centre and the Delhi government since the Aam Aadmi Party came to power in 2014.