New Delhi:
The Delhi government has approached Supreme Court alleging that the Centre is defying the constitutional bench order on the control over bureaucrats. The government alleged that the Centre was obstructing the transfer of a bureaucrat that they had ordered after a landmark judgment by the Supreme Court.
In a big win for the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (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.
In a democratic form of governance, the real power of administration must rest on the elected arm of government, said the bench, adding that the central government’s power in matters in which 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 verdict of the court, the Services Department was under the control of Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor.
Hours after the judgement, the Kejriwal government removed the Secretary of the Delhi government’s services department Ashish More. Former Delhi Jal Board CEO A K Singh, a 1995-batch (AGMUT cadre) IAS officer, will replace More.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, in a press conference, said there will be a major administrative reshuffle in the government, warning of action against officers who “obstructed” public work.
