NEW DELHI: Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government on Thursday told the Supreme Court that posting and transfer of bureaucrats come within its jurisdiction and the Centre could not interfere in its right.
Appearing before a bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan, senior advocate P
Chidambaram said it was for the central government to allocate the cadre but posting was to be done by the state government. He referred to various laws including DANICS (NCT of Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli) civil service rule to emphasise that posting was to be done on the aid and advice of the elected government of Delhi.
"DANICS and DANIPS are common cadre and the cadre rules say that they will be controlled by the Delhi government as long as they are posted in the national capital. The LG does not control the services. He cannot control or order their transfer or postings," Chidambaram said.
The AAP government also claimed jurisdiction over anti-corruption branch (ACB). Senior advocate Shekhar Nafade told the bench that ACB officers should report to the state government because the unit was under the government’s vigilance department. He said a particular police station was notified for the purpose which came within the jurisdiction of the state.
“This is a very interesting situation…rather anomalous situation…Where police come within the Centre’s purview and you claim that police station comes within your jurisdiction,” the bench observed.
The state government was challenging two notifications issued by the Centre in 2014 and 2015 that sought to take central government employees out of ACB’s jurisdiction. The argument remained inconclusive.
