Kejriwal Hints at Big Bureaucratic Reshuffle Hours After SC Verdict, Starts With Services Secy

As the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the Delhi government has legislative and executive powers over administration of services, including IAS and AGMUT bureaucrats, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party’s celebrations outside its headquarters in Rouse Avenue Road resembled those of an election win. The legal win, after all, was the culmination of an eight-year-old dispute with the BJP-ruled Centre.

A five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud ruled that in the spirit of cooperative federalism, the Centre must exercise its powers within the boundaries created by the Constitution.

The AAP, which has been up in arms against the Centre for not being allowed to exercise control even over subjects on which it is empowered to legislate, hailed the verdict and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal indicated a massive reshuffle in the bureaucracy. In the first of those rejigs, the government issued orders for the transfer of the Services Secretary hours after the verdict.

“In the coming days, you will see an overhaul in the administrative officers. Many officers and workers will be transferred based on the work they have done. There are some officers, some workers who in the past one-and-a-half years stalled the work of the people of Delhi,” he said. He promising a “lean and thin, responsive, compassionate and accountable model of good governance”.

In a press conference, cabinet ministers Gopal Rai, Atishi and Saurabh Bhardwaj said the verdict was a victory for the people of Delhi and slammed the central government for “illegally usurping” the powers of the elected government.

Since Arvind Kejriwal took over as Chief Minister of Delhi for the second time in 2015, governance in the national capital has been characterised by a fierce and debilitating power struggle between the elected government and the Lieutenant Governor’s office. The latest flashpoint was the Delhi government’s proposal to send teachers for training to Finland, the appointment of DERC chairman and the Lieutenant Governor asking for a report on the building of the CM’s residence and flagging off investigations into alleged cases of corruption.

“Heartfelt thanks to the Hon’ble Supreme Court for doing justice to the people of Delhi. With this decision, the pace of development of Delhi will increase manifold. Democracy won,” Kejriwal tweeted following the verdict.

Elaborating on the Delhi government’s powers, the verdict said legislative and executive power over services such as Indian Administrative Service, or Joint Cadre services, which are relevant for the implementation of policies and vision of the Delhi government in terms of day-to-day administration of the region, shall lie with it.

The Arvind Kejriwal government has been alleging that bureaucrats belonging to All India Services and joint UT cadres like DANICS (Delhi, Andaman & Nicobar, Lakshadweep, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli (Civil Services) are not following the administrative directions of the elected government.

The top court on Thursday also referred to its 2018 judgement and Article 239AA (which deals with the special status of Delhi as UT) of the Constitution and said the Lieutenant Governor is bound by the aid and advice of the council of Delhi ministers in relation to matters within the legislative scope of the city government.

Kejriwal and AAP, too, have been quoting repeatedly from the 2018 verdict that the L-G “has no independent decision making powers”.

Saurabh Bhardwaj, who holds the Services portfolio, was hopeful that the verdict would pave the way for lesser interference from the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi. “Apart from land, police and public order, the elected government has powers over every other issue. The Chief Minister has called a meeting of all ministers to explore how various development projects of Delhi can be speeded up,” he said, adding that the government now has the power to recruit its own officers.

AAP spokesperson Jasmine Shah said: “I think this a very, very historic verdict. I would say that even though Delhi had an elected government since 1992, these kinds of pressures to stop the elected government from working by controlling the entire bureaucracy were happening earlier also. However, after 2015, when Mr Kejriwal became the chief minister, the entire Services was taken over formally by the Centre.”

“I think it will be fair to say this is the rebirth of democracy in the national capital. This is not just a victory for the AAP government or a personal victory for CM Arvind Kejriwal. It is a victory for the people of Delhi and for every Indian who cherishes democracy.”

The AAP government and the L-G’s office have clashed on almost every decision that the chief minister has taken. In fact, on the issue of installation of CCTV cameras, the chief minister, along with other cabinet ministers, had staged a sit-in at then L-G Anil Baijal’s office for eight days. More recently, Kejriwal had led a protest march to L-G VK Saxena’s office over sending teachers for training to Finland. The Delhi cabinet has repeatedly alleged that officers take orders directly from the Lieutenant Governor and do not even keep the elected government informed.

With the verdict of the Constitution Bench, the L-G cannot issue orders directly to the officers except on reserved subjects, and the elected government has the power of transfers and postings.

Asked whether governance in the capital will be smoother now, Atishi said: ‘We hope so”. She added that while the L-G still has the powers to call for files, he cannot take a decision on the same.

Jasmine Shah further said that there is a provision under the Constitution wherein the L-G can express a difference of opinion with the decision of the elected government and he will continue to enjoy those powers.

“But that has to be done in the rarest of rare cases is what the Supreme Court has already said. What will not happen anymore is the L-G sending direct decisions to the bureaucracy. In the past months, the L-G would issue a new notice to the Chief Secretary that ‘there is such and such allegation of a scam; you have to stop all work and send a report to me in seven days’. The entire elected government would be bypassed. From here onwards, each and every officer of the Delhi government—be it an IAS officer or any other cadre officer—will be held accountable to people’s representatives.”

The verdict also means that the AAP government has the power of appointments in government-ruled bodies wherever there is a vacancy.

While the verdict is a shot in the arm for the elected government, the AAP is still cautious. The issues of sending teachers to Finland for training and the appointment of Jasmine Shah as Dialogue Development Commission (DDC) vice chairman are pending separately in court.