A new statutory body to handle transfer and posting of bureaucrats in the national capital that gives veto to two senior bureaucrats over the elected Chief Minister — the Centre’s ordinance promulgated Friday is in the teeth of the Supreme Court verdict. While Parliament has power to bring in a law to nullify the effect of a court ruling, the ordinance raises questions over the manner in which it addresses the key principles enunciated in the Supreme Court ruling. The Constitution bench ruling re-interpreting Article 239AA, the provision that deals with the governance structure of Delhi, underlined the principles of federalism, participatory democracy and collective responsibility. “An unaccountable and a non-responsive civil service may pose a serious problem of governance in a democracy. It creates a possibility that the permanent executive, consisting of unelected civil service officers, who play a decisive role in the implementation of government policy, may act in ways that disregard the will of the electorate,” the apex court had stated. “If a democratically elected government is not provided with the power to control the officers posted within its domain, then the principle underlying the triple-chain of collective responsibility would become redundant. That is to say, if the government is not able to control and hold to account the officers posted in its service, then its responsibility towards the legislature as well as the public is diluted,” the ruling added. The SC ruling also stated that Part XIV of the Constitution that deals with laws applicable to states also applies to Delhi.
