‘Constitution mandates Delhi, Centre work together': Supreme Court

AAP has already launched a campaign in Delhi where they are collecting signatures of people demanding full statehood.

The Supreme Court of India (Photo | ANI Twitter)

In a significant ruling defining the powers of the Lieutenant Governor (L-G), the five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court clarified on Wednesday that Puducherry cannot be compared with Delhi as it is governed by a provision which is different from that concerning the national Capital.

The SC also made it clear that Delhi is not a full-fledged state, and that it has special status, and that the Constitution demands that the Delhi and Central governments have to work together. This is a blow to the AAP's repeated demand for full statehood to Delhi.

The majority judgment written by Chief Justice Dipak Misra says that Puducherry was covered under Article 239A whereas NCT of Delhi is covered under Article 239AA.

However, the AAP seems to be in no mood to let this demand go. "The struggle for full statehood will continue," declared Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

AAP has already launched a campaign in Delhi where they are collecting signatures of people demanding full statehood.

"It can be very well said that the executive power of the Union in respect of NCT of Delhi is confined to the three matters in the State List for which the legislative power of the Delhi Legislative Assembly has been excluded under Article 239AA(3)(a). Such an interpretation would thwart any attempt on the part of the Union Government to seize all control and allow the concepts of pragmatic federalism and federal balance to prevail by giving the NCT of Delhi some degree of required independence in its functioning subject to the limitations imposed by the Constitution," the Bench ruled.

The court said that the case of Puducherry even stood on a different footing from the Union Territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Lakshadweep and Chandigarh.