‘Paperless’ Constitution Bench to hear Delhi govt vs Centre case

Satya Prakash

New Delhi, September 7

It will be a paperless Constitution Bench hearing of the tussle between Delhi Government and the Centre for control over bureaucracy in the national capital.

A five-judge Constitution Bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud – which took up the matter on Wednesday—said it will be a “Green Bench” using no paper files during the hearing. IT staff of the top court were ready to train senior lawyers to enable them to function in a paperless manner, it said.

The Bench – which also included Justice MR Shah, Justice Krishna Murari, Justice Hima Kohli and Justice PS Narasimha—tentatively agreed to commence hearing from October 11 even as it said it will fix the timeline for hearing on September 27.

Earlier, the then CJI JS Khehar had on March 23, 2017 said in six to seven months the practice of filing of bulky petitions with annexure running into hundreds of pages will be done away with. However, the ambitious plan could not materialise.

The Delhi Government has challenged the validity of amended Government of NCT of Delhi Act, 2021 and Rule 13 of the Transaction of Business Rules, 1993 which allegedly gave more powers to Lieutenant Governor.

Accepting the Centre’s demand, the Supreme Court had on May 6 referred the contentious issue to a five-judge Constitution Bench even as it said the issue related to ‘Services’ alone shall be decided by the Constitution Bench as it was not dealt with by the previous Constitution Bench.

The Centre had said the issue should be referred to a Constitution Bench for a holistic interpretation of Article 239AA. Describing Delhi as the “face of the nation”, Solicitor General Mehta had defended the Centre’s control over transfers and postings of bureaucrats in Delhi even as Delhi Government contested it.

This is the third round of litigation before the top court on the power tussle between Lt Governor of Delhi—appointed by the Centre — and the elected Government led by AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal. The tussle between Delhi Lt Governor and the elected Government of NCT has remained unresolved despite two earlier verdicts – one each by a Constitution Bench and a two-judge Bench of the Supreme Court.

In July 2018, the top court had ruled that Delhi Lt Governor of Delhi did not have independent decision-making powers. A five-judge Constitution Bench had said the LG was generally bound to act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers, except on three subjects reserved for him or where he differs with the decision of the elected NCT government and decides to refer an issue to the President. All decisions of the NCT Council of Ministers have to be communicated to the LG. However, such communication does not mean LG’s concurrence is required, it said.

On February 14, 2019 delivered a split verdict on the issue of control of administrative services. A Bench of Justice AK Sikri and Justice Ashok Bhushan had different views as to who had powers to appoint and transfer officers of State Public Services under Entry 41, List II of the Constitution. In view of the split verdict, the issue of “services” was referred to a three-judge Bench.