Centre still the boss, Jaitley tells AAP

A day after the Supreme Court laid down the ground rules for the demarcation of powers between the Delhi Lieutenant Governor and the elected government, Union minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday muddied the waters by saying that the Centre still had the "overriding" powers.

He said in a Facebook post, "The opinion of the court gives due importance to the opinion of the elected State Government but maintains the primacy of the Central Government in the larger interest of the national capital."

Stressing that the verdict only reaffirms what the Constitution provides for, he says: "It does not add to the powers of the State Government or the Central Government, nor does it in any way dilute the same."

Jaitley also says the Apex Court has made it crystal clear that Delhi is not a state and so the elected government of the union territory does not have powers which belong to a state government.

Since the Supreme Court has held categorically that Delhi cannot keep itself at par with other States, 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."

Jaitley further goes on to tell those who wants to join the debate on the judgment to better first read it since its several versions have appeared in the public space.

Jaitley says the judgment certainly binds the Lieutenant Governor with no independent power to overrule the State Cabinet, but it stresses that "if he has good and cogent reasons supported by material to disagree, he can record the same in writing and refer the same to the President (i.e. the Central Government), which will resolve the difference of opinion between the State Government and the Lieutenant Governor." Even on the court's stress on the importance of elected state government vis-a-vis the Lt Governor, Jaitley has his own take: "...but Delhi being a Union Territory makes its powers subservient to the Central Government."

"The Council of Ministers being headed by the Chief Minister should be guided by values and prudence, accepting the constitutional position that the NCT of Delhi is not a State," Jaitley concludes.