Delhi govt moves SC challenging LG-headed committee on Yamuna pollution

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi has approached the Supreme Court challenging an order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) appointing the lieutenant governor (LG) as the head of a high-level committee on Yamuna River pollution

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi has approached the Supreme Court challenging an order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) appointing the lieutenant governor (LG) as the head of a high-level committee on Yamuna River pollution.

Delhi lieutenant governor VK Saxena and chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. (File)

The appeal filed by the AAP government on Tuesday sought directions to set aside the NGT order saying that it was unconstitutional and violative of the two successive constitution bench decisions in July 2018 and May 11. The AAP government said that the NGT order of January 9 is sidelines the elected government and appoints an “unelected figurehead who does not have any authority to act on his own except on the aid and advice of the elected Delhi government.”

In a release issued on Wednesday, the Delhi government said, “The NGT’s proposed remedial measures, such as utilising treated water for agriculture, horticulture, or industrial purposes, preventing waste discharge and dumping, protecting floodplain zones, maintaining dredging flow, implementing plantations, and desilting drains, require budgetary allocations that are approved by the legislative assembly. The role of the elected government becomes crucial in overseeing these measures.”

It said, “While an inter-agency committee is desirable for coordination purposes, it should be overseen by the elected head of government, the chief minister in this case.”

The order by the NGT came on a petition filed by Ashwani Yadav highlighting the increasing pollution in Yamuna river and failure of authorities to take remedial measures. The five-member bench of NGT in its order noted, “Having multiple authorities in Delhi may be one of the reasons for not achieving success so far. There appears to be a lack of ownership and accountability.”

Besides LG as the chairman, the high-level committee includes Delhi chief secretary, secretaries of the Irrigation, Forest and Environment, Agriculture, and Finance Departments of the Delhi Government, the chief executive officer of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), the vice chairman of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), a representative from the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, the director-general of Forests or his nominee, a representative from the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS) or Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) , the director-general of the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), and the chairman of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

The appeal filed through advocate Shadan Farasat said that the objective of cleaning Yamuna and implementing remedial measures requires interdepartmental coordination but in the garb of the order, executive powers cannot be granted to the LG as these powers exclusively rest with the elected government of Delhi.

Quoting portions from the 2018 decision which delineated how the LG is to act on aid and advice of the Delhi government, except in matters pertaining to land, public order and police, the petition said that as per Article 239AA granting Delhi a special status, LG serves as a “nominal figurehead” in the administrative structure in Delhi.

“It has been a well-established constitutional principle for the past 50 years that the powers vested in a nominal and unelected head of state should only be exercised under the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers,” the release quoted the petition as saying. It further goes on to state that granting executive powers to an authority that lacks the constitutional mandate to possess them undermines the elected government’s rightful jurisdiction.