The Supreme Court ruling in the Govt. of NCT of Delhi vs Union is much more than a victory for AAP. It is assertion of parliamentary democracy and cabinet mechanism of government as inscribed under the Indian Constitution. The position and powers of the governor in the constitutional scheme is once again enunciated by the Supreme Court. This uncalled for drama was avoidable had the Delhi Lt Governor shredded the wings of obstinacy. However, this became inevitable as the office of the governor almost usurped the powers of the chief minister and the council of ministers.
No governor is expected to work with such committed devotion to the ruling party at the Centre derailing the duly elected government. It has become a convention of the BJP-led NDA to use each and every way and tools at their command to bulldoze duly elected governments of any opposition party or alliance. As a sequel to the judgment, chief minister of Puducherry has also expressed displeasure at the approach of the Lt Governor of Puducherry for crossing the line of power. The recent infamous example of the governor of Karnataka in installing BS Yeddyurappa as the chief minister is still fresh. Here also, it was the intervention of the Supreme Court that paid to restore constitutional democracy.
The Supreme Court has duly recognised the special circumstances of Delhi. It is accepted that Delhi being capital belongs to the nation as a whole. At the same time, striking a balance, the Supreme Court has underscored that Delhi is also a State with duly elected government for all purposes. The Delhi legislative assembly therefore enjoys all the powers except the bar pertaining to public order, police, municipal corporation and land. This has always been the acceptable position considering that Delhi is not a full-fledged state and further being the capital of the country.
There could be dissenting opinions on the demand of AAP and other political outfits for Delhi to graduate into full statehood. It is their political agenda which they are free to espouse. Such high-handed behaviour of the governor and other agents of Central government provide ammunition for the demand of full statehood.
Stating that the Union government is free to discharge its special responsibilities in relation to national capital, it has reinforced that the powers of the state government cannot be trampled upon by the Lt Governor. Elucidating the status of the Delhi Administrator, the Supreme Court has rightly held that the Lt Governor of Delhi cannot claim special or extra powers than what is enshrined in the Indian Constitution on the ground that Delhi is not a full State. Under the constitutional scheme, the governor has to act only under the aid and advice of the council of ministers. Governor’s discretion is restricted to the area of induction of chief minister and during the failure of constitutional machinery in a state or when the governor is acting in a judicial capacity. Governor may refer ‘exceptional’ decisions or state legislation to the President in case of difference of opinion between him and the council of ministers. The Supreme Court has settled the argument clearly stating that the views of the Legislative Assembly of NCTD and decisions of the Council of Ministers should be respected in all cases except when Lt. Governor decides to make reference to the President for valid reasons. The Lt Governor ‘sitting on files’ claiming privilege as the final repository of executive and legislative power is unsustainable.
It is true that AAP has been acting more as an opposition party even after forming the government. They are under the lens of political commentators as giving negative indications of their willingness and ability to govern. Some have dubbed the Delhi chief minister as anarchist and unfit to govern. This cannot absolve the governor who has boosted the hands of the BJP to make the duly elected Delhi government non-functional and treating the elected representatives as a bunch of idiots.
The Delhi governor in blocking the duly elected Delhi government at every instance has finally caused a loss to citizens of NCTD. The barricades put by the governor and the plying bureaucracy in the routine agenda of the council of ministers has also caused political disadvantages for AAP which in a competitive political climate are difficult to be redeemed. The ruling party is placed in a spiral of handicaps to project a positive balance sheet to the electorate.
It was imperative on the President to shoot an advisory to the governor when it was open that the Delhi governor was almost acting as the bouncer of the BJP political club ejecting decisions of an elected government. Being the constitutional authority at the highest level, the President should not have remained silent to the primary constitutional obligation. The accumulated bias and prejudice of the current governor and chief minister cannot build confidence between the figurehead and the de facto head of the state executive. The President should provide a new incumbent to the office of the governor of Delhi.
The fundamental duty of the governors is to act as guardians of the constitution and friends of the people of the state. Instead, they choose to be active facilitators of politics and politicking in opposition ruled states. In BJP ruled regions, they prefer to sleep and sulk making public appearances in the cause of ‘Swachh Bharat’, Yoga, Vedic learning and ‘gomataseva’. For a healthy federal democracy and cordial centre-state relations, it is advisable to weed out such parasites.
(The writer is an educationist and political commentator)
