Kejriwal, L-G war on control over bureaucrats continue

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday met Lt- Governor (L-G) Anil Baijal for the first time after the Supreme Court verdict, but they only 'agreed to disagree' on who has the control over bureaucrats.

At the meeting held at Raj Niwas, Baijal told Kejriwal in uncertain terms that he does not agree with the Delhi government's argument that services comes under it.

He followed it up with a letter, prompting the chief minister to warn that it could lead to "anarchy" as it was the first time that the Centre was "openly refusing" to obey the apex court's order.

Kejriwal termed the episode a "conspiracy" to "paralyse" the government, which is now consulting lawyers on whether the L-G's refusal to abide by the Supreme Court order will amount to contempt of court.

The L-G is of the view that the control over bureaucracy is vested with him as per the 2015 notification and that was not quashed by the Supreme Court.

Soon after the meeting with Kejriwal and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Baijal tweeted that he assured them his continued support and cooperation in the "interest of good governance and overall development of Delhi as per the letter and spirit of Constitution".

In a quick response the L-G on Twitter, Kejriwal reminded him that all should work together for the development of Delhi and that "Constitution is supreme. Orders of Supreme Court become the law of the land. They must be respected".

The chief minister then met the media and said, "the L-G sought advice from that MHA which told him that services should not be given to Delhi government. It is the first time in the history of India that the Central government has openly refused to obey the SC's (Supreme Court) order."

"The Ministry of Home Affairs has advised the L-G to ignore that part of SC order, which restricts L-G's powers to only three subjects (police, public order and land. Very dangerous that central government is advising the LG not to follow SC's orders," he said, adding that he has sought time from Home Minister Rajnath Singh to urge him to follow the orders.