AN INDEPENDENT JUDICIARY IS NOT A POLITICAL PARTY

The tussle between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government and the Lieutenant Governor (LG) has become a regular feature. The root cause was about power: In which areas does the AAP and the LG have jurisdiction? The tussle occasioned a lengthy judgment of the Delhi High Court and thereafter an erudite and also lengthy judgment of the Supreme Court which was unanimous except on one issue.

One of the main issues before the court was whether the transfers and postings of secretaries, HODS and other officers in the scale of joint secretary to the government of India and above can be done by the LG and the file submitted to him directly, and whether in case of a difference of opinion between the LG and the chief minister, the view of the LG should prevail. Justice AK Sikri held that “the appointing and dis- ciplinary authority is the President of India, as per the powers delegated by the President from time to time. Vigilance matters would get covered by the applicable disciplinary rules in terms of officers competent to initiate and take vigilance action”. Consequently the LG and not the AAP government would have jurisdiction in this field.

The following passages in the judgment are interesting and noteworthy. “The authorities in power should constantly remind themselves that they are constitutional functionaries and they have the responsibility to ensure that the fundamental purpose of administration is the welfare of the people in an ethical manner. There is requirement of discussion and deliberation.… Fulfilment of constitutional idealism ostracising anything that is not permissible by the language of the provisions of the Constitution and showing veneration to its sense, spirit and silence is constitutional renaissance. It has to be remembered that our Constitution is a constructive one. There is no room for absolutism. There is no space for anarchy. Sometimes it is argued, though in a different context, that one can be a rational anarchist, but the said term has no entry in the

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