Hyderabad: The National Secretariat of the Communist Party of India today welcomed the verdict of the five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, ruling that the Lt Governor is bound by the aid and advice of the democratically elected government of National Capital Territory of Delhi. The majority judgment made it clear that the government of the NCT has power in all areas except land, police and public order while delivering its verdict on the Delhi government’s appeal challenging the HC judgment holding the LG as the administrative head.
“The Lieutenant Governor can’t act in a mechanical manner and refer all decisions of the council of ministers to the President. The L-G’s role can’t be obstructionist, he must work together with the council of ministers and respect their decisions,” Chief Justice of India said while reading out the verdict. In addition to the CJI, the bench comprised Justices A K Sikri, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan. It may be recalled here that as the tussle started getting worse, the Party had extended its full support to Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal and three of his ministers, who were forced to observe a sit-in protest for more than a week.
The CPI felt that the verdict is a hard blow to the “vindictive” politics as well as “disruptive” practices which undermine federalism pursued by Narendra Modi government at the Centre. The party reiterated that the Modi government give up its “sectarian and anti-democratic” attitude towards non-BJP State governments as well as its repeated attempts to topple them. (NSS)
