AAP accuses Centre of defying Supreme Court verdict on bureaucrats' control
New Delhi, May 12: The Delhi government, led by Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), has approached the Supreme Court accusing the Centre of defying a constitutional bench order on the control over bureaucrats. The government alleged that the Centre was hindering the transfer of a bureaucrat that they had ordered after a landmark judgment by the Supreme Court.
In a significant win for the AAP government, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in a unanimous verdict gave the Delhi assembly powers to legislate to represent the will of the people. The court stated that in a democratic form of governance, the real power of administration must rest on the elected arm of government.
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The bench added that the central government's power in matters where both the Centre and states can legislate "is limited to ensure that the governance is not taken over by the Central government." Prior to the court's verdict, the Services Department was under the control of Delhi's Lieutenant Governor.
Following the judgment, the Kejriwal government removed Ashish More, the Secretary of the Delhi government's services department, and replaced him with former Delhi Jal Board CEO A K Singh, a 1995-batch (AGMUT cadre) IAS officer. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced in a press conference that there would be a significant administrative reshuffle in the government and warned of action against officers who "obstructed" public work.
- With inputs from agencies
