The Supreme Court of India on Thursday in a unanimous judgment ruled in favour of the elected government and said it will have power over all services except law and order and land. LG shall exercise powers under the administrative role as entrusted by the president. Only matters outside of the legislative assembly can be dealt with by executive administration, according to the top court, but it cannot include administration of the entire NCTD and is limited to the powers entrusted by the President. Otherwise, the purpose of having a separate elected body in Delhi will be rendered futile. In its ruling, the court held that democratically elected governments should have control over their officers.
A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said: “The ideal conclusion would be that GNCTD (Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi) ought to have control over ‘services’, subject to exclusion of subjects which are out of its legislative domain. If services are excluded from its legislative and executive domain, the ministers and the executive who are charged with formulating policies in the territory of NCTD would be excluded from controlling the civil service officers who implement such executive decisions.”
The bench – also comprising Justices M.R. Shah, Krishna Murari, Hima Kohli, and P.S. Narasimha – observed that in a democratic form of government, the real power of administration must reside in the elected arm of the state, subject to the confines of the Constitution.
If a democratically elected government is not allowed to control its officers and hold them accountable, its responsibility towards the legislature and the public is diluted. “If an officer is not responding to govt the collective responsibility is diluted.. if an officer feels they are insulated from elected govt they feel they are not accountable,” the CJI said.
