Row over services: Supreme Court refers Delhi govt's challenge to Centre's ordinance to constitution bench

Satya Prakash

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New Delhi, July 20

The Supreme Court on Thursday referred the Delhi government’s petition challenging the Delhi Services Ordinance, 2023 — that gave wider powers to the Lt Governor with regard to bureaucracy – to a Constitution Bench for a final adjudication of the contentious issue.

“We will refer it to a Constitution Bench,” a three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said, adding that a detailed order will be uploaded on the top court website by this evening.

The Bench decided to refer it to a Constitution Bench after hearing brief submissions from senior advocates Abhishek Singhvi, Harish Salve and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Delhi Government, the Lieutenant Governor and the Centre, respectively.

The Supreme Court on July 10 refused to stay the Ordinance and issued notice to the Centre the Delhi Government’s petition challenging its constitutional validity.

On Monday, the Centre had defended the Ordinance, saying it had to be promulgated urgently to save the administration of the national capital from getting ‘paralyzed’ when a large number of international events were happening here in view of India’s G-20 Presidentship.

“Since, Parliament was not in session, keeping in view the emergent situation of administrative chaos in the Capital, whereby the administration of the National Capital was paralyzed, it was deemed necessary to provide for a comprehensive scheme of administration of services deployed in the functioning of NCTD and other allied issues thereby balancing the local and domestic interests of the people staying in the NCTD with the democratic will of the entire nation reflected through the President of India,” the Ministry of Home Affairs said in an affidavit.

The MHA levelled serious allegations against the Delhi Government, saying, “the officers working in the Vigilance Department which handles serious vigilance issues relating to complaints of corruption, thus involving, criminal and other politically sensitive cases, came to be specifically targeted by the elected government and complaints were received from Special Secretary (Vigilance) and two other officers, pointing out a serious incident of trespassing in the said officer’s chamber and taking unlawful custody of certain files.”

The files pertained to an alleged excise scam in which some important and senior ministers of the Delhi Government were under investigation and were in custody under judicial; files pertaining to the expenditure incurred on the construction of new residential bungalow of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal which was being enquired into and documents pertaining to advertisements given by and from the exchequer of the Delhi Government for a political party, it stated.

“There are also files pertaining to the creation and functioning of a unit known as “Feedback Unit”. It may be pointed out that though the subject of police and law and order is not within the jurisdiction of the Government of NCT Delhi, one unit was created to gather political intelligence in the National Capital employing, inter alia, retired IB officials as officers / employees.

“The existence of such a unit, apart from being beyond the competence of the limited executive powers of the GNTD, is otherwise also disastrous considering that not only all Central Government Ministries looking after the entire nation are situated in the capital but several embassies and representatives of various countries in various fields are based in the nation’s capital as also the highest judiciary of the country i.e. the Supreme Court of India is also located in the country’s capital. It is under consideration that with the jurisdiction as limited in Article 239A A, GNCTD cannot have a unit to gather “intelligence” under the ostensible name of “Feedback Unit”,” the affidavit stated.