AAP requests SC to speed up process of petitions related to governance

The Delhi government Thursday told the Supreme Court it wanted its petitions relating to the governance of the national capital be heard soon as it did not want "stalemate to continue in administration".

The Delhi government told the top court that it wanted to know where it stands in the administration in view of the Constitution bench verdict of apex court on July 4.

A bench of justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan said it understood the problem but several urgent matters such as election issues came up for hearing due to which cases in the regular list were not taken up.

"We understand that the matters in the regular list are also to be taken up for hearing as people have waited for their case for years. We have to look at everything," it said.

Senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for the Delhi government, said the court should fix a time for hearing and finish the matter.

"We don't want stalemate to continue in administration. We want to know where we stand at present with regard to the administration after the constitution bench judgement on the issue," Jaising said.

Additional Solicitor General Maninder Singh said the Delhi government at this stage cannot ask for fixing a time limit for hearing as they have enjoyed the flexibility of arguing at length.

The bench fixed October 10 and 11 for hearing the arguments in the pending matters and asked the council to complete their submissions in two days.

On September 19, the Centre had told the apex court that administration of Delhi cannot be left to the Delhi government alone and emphasised that it has an "extraordinary" position by virtue of being the country's capital.

The Centre had told the court that a five-judge constitution bench of the apex court had categorically held that Delhi cannot be accorded the status of a state.

The five-judge bench had laid down broad parameters for governance of the national capital, which has witnessed a power struggle between the Centre and the Delhi government since the Aam Aadmi Party came to power in 2014.

The Centre had said one of the basic issues was that whether the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) has the legislative and executive powers so far as 'services' were concerned.

"Delhi has an extraordinary position as it is the capital of the country," it had said.

It said that the national capital houses several institutions of vital importance like Parliament, the Supreme Court and foreign diplomats also resides here.

The Delhi government had earlier told the court that they have executive power to constitute a commission of inquiry.

On July 18, the AAP government had told the apex court that its functioning was "completely paralysed" and it cannot order transfer or posting of officers despite the constitution bench verdict on the national capital's administration.

The five-judge bench in the landmark verdict had unanimously held that Delhi cannot be accorded the status of a state but clipped the powers of the Lieutenant Governor (LG), saying he has no "independent decision-making power" and has to act on the aid and advice of the elected government.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had been at loggerheads with incumbent LG Anil Baijal and his predecessor Najeeb Jung.

Kejriwal had accused both of them of preventing the functioning of his government at the behest of the Centre.

(With inputs from agencies.)