Your nod not required, Kejriwal writes to L-G

| | New Delhi

Buoyed by the landmark Supreme Court judgement about the distribution of power between the Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and the  Delhi Government, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said after the Supreme Court's judgment, the 'executive powers' related to “services” lie with the elected Government and not with the L-G or Central Government.

In a four-page letter written to the L-G on Thursday, the Chief Minister also said if the L-G acts on files related to 'Services', it would be contempt of court.

“The L-G's 'concurrence' should now not be required on any matter”, the Chief Minister stated in his official communiqué to the L-G.

“The Central Government or the L-G  have executive powers only on three subjects. On all other subjects, executive powers lie with the Council of Ministers. Therefore, executive power related to 'services' lie with the council members,” the Chief Minister wrote in his letter.

He also reminded the L-G that the Supreme Court on Wednesday  had unanimously ruled that Delhi's L-G was constitutionally bound by the “aid and advice” of the elected Government in all areas except land, police and public order.

Chief Minister wrote to the L-G after Secretary (Services) Geetanjali Gupta rejected the order of Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia to comply

with the Supreme

Court ruling on who has the authority to transfer or post officers in Delhi.

Meanwhile Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash cited a 2015 notification of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) as the reason for rejection, saying it has not been specifically quashed.

Terming the defiance by the Secretary Services as “contempt of court”, Kejriwal said,“The said notification becomes infructuous in the light of clear orders of the Supreme Court. The judgment of court has been effective the moment it was pronounced.”

“If the files related to services are placed before the

L-G and he acts on them, it would clearly amount to contempt of Supreme Court in the light of its judgment.”

Seeking support from the L-G for the development of Delhi, Kejriwal said that he plans to “issue orders to all functionaries” on Friday and in case of any contrary views, “the Cabinet Ministers are ready to come over for a discussion”.