L-G not elected government of Delhi, powers vested with us: Govt to HC

The Centre, meanwhile, told the High Court that no one with any vested interest had interfered in the functioning of the ACB.

AAP government, L-G Najeeb Jung, AAP High Court, Anti-Corruption Branch, AAP L-G Najeeb Jung, Delhi news

Lt-Governor Najeeb Jung

The AAP government told the Delhi High Court on Thursday that the Lt-Governor was not the elected government of Delhi and that he was required to act on the aid and advice of the council of ministers, as mandated by the Constitution.

“The Lt-Governor is not the elected government in Delhi and this fact is fundamental to the matter. The powers are vested with the elected government with respect to subjects in the state list, barring a few exceptions (police, land and public order). All we (council of ministers) have to do is only inform the Lt-Governor about the proposals and he has to act on the aid and advice of the council of ministers,” said senior advocate Dayan Krishnan, counsel for the Delhi government.

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The submission was made before a bench of Justice V P Vaish during arguments on the Delhi government’s plea challenging the Centre’s May 21 notification, giving the Lt-Governor absolute powers to appoint bureaucrats to various posts in the capital and barring the Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) from proceeding against any central government official.

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Krishnan argued that the ACB came directly under the vigilance department of the Delhi government. Once a bureaucrat was given a cadre, the department concerned fixed his duties and work and not the Lt-Governor, he added.

He said the Lt-Governor could create new posts and increase the workforce in the subjects under his discretion, but could not decide who to post and where.

The Centre, meanwhile, told the High Court that no one with any vested interest had interfered in the functioning of the ACB. It denied the AAP government’s charge that the appointment of ACB chief M K Meena was made contrary to law. It said the appointment was well within the constitutional jurisdiction of the Lt-Governor. The ACB, which was a police station, fell under him as he was the administrator in charge of police, the Centre said.

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