Bedi, Narayanasamy war of words continues

The Supreme Court verdict on the powers of Lt Governor in Delhi has given fresh fodder to Kiran Bedi and V Narayanasamy on the never-ending debate on who wields maximum power in the Union Territory of Puducherry.

On Thursday, both Bedi and Narayanasamy kept engaging the media and social media space by sharing various interpretations of the Supreme Court verdict in the context of Puducherry.

While Narayanasamy maintains that the lt governor has no powers in terms of administering the state, Bedi says the apex court has clearly said that the verdict will apply only for Delhi.

“These are the words of Hon'ble Supreme Court in Govt of NCT of Delhi vs Union of India and Another. Honourable Court has made a clear distinction between the two. Delhi as a UT and Puducherry as a UT,” Bedi tweeted, by sharing relevant portions of the judgement.

The portion tweeted by Bedi, which is part of the verdict, says: “As a natural corollary, the Union Territory of Puducherry stands on a different footing from other UTs of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Daman and Diu, Dadar and Nagar Haveli, Lakshadweep and Chandigarh.

“However, we may hasten to add that Puducherry cannot be compared with the NCT of Delhi as it is solely governed by the provisions of Article 239A.” Bedi also shared web links of newspaper articles that have dwelled on whether the judgement would apply to Puducherry as well.

Speaking to reporters, Narayanasamy said Bedi's interpretation of the Supreme Court verdict was wrong and quoted constitutional experts as saying that judgement of a constitutional bench of the apex court would apply to all Union territories.

“The verdict will apply for Puducherry as well. Kiran Bedi is misleading media and officials by saying that the SC verdict will not apply for Puducherry. I have been maintaining that the L-G has no special powers in Puducherry and she has to go by the recommendation of the Council of Ministers,” he said.

Bedi and Narayanasamy have been locked in a bitter war of words on who wields real power in the UT, often resulting in a delay of public services in Puducherry.