The Supreme Court verdict on the powers of the Delhi lieutenant governor vis-a-vis AAP government has a clear message to both the squabbling parties: that the rule of law and the Constitution are supreme and both should not bicker over every trivial issue. The apex court ruling was essentially over two issues: granting full statehood to Delhi and an interpretation of Article 239AA of the Constitution.
The Delhi High Court had two years ago ruled that the Delhi L-G is not bound by the aid and advice of the Arvind Kejriwal government. On this the apex court has correctly ruled that the L-G has to go by the aid and advice of the elected government, thereby upholding the principles of federalism. But on the issue of full statehood to Delhi, the highest court has ruled out the possibility because of the unique nature that Delhi enjoys because it is also the national capital and not an ordinary state.
But Wednesday’s order has left one grey area: the interpretation of Clause 4 of Article 239AA, which deals with matters of dispute between the L-G and the state government. This clause empowers the L-G to refer matters of differences to the president of India, who by extension is the Central government as he functions on the aid and advice of the Union Cabinet. While the court clearly ruled that “any matter” of dispute does not give the L-G the licence to refer “every matter,” it did not also completely bar the L-G from going to the president in case of differences. This has the potential to keep the door open for clashes in the future.
The verdict puts the onus of governance on the Kejriwal government entirely. For the past three-and-a-half years, the AAP leader has always blamed the Centre, the L-G and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his government’s own failures, holding allegedly obstructionist L-Gs responsible for not being able to deliver on his election promises. With the apex court now clearing the path, he cannot hide behind such excuses now. Any more carping on this front will only be at his political peril.