Supreme Court to hear Delhi govt’s pleas against DERC, ordinance together

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud said the matter will now come up on July 17

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that it will hear the Delhi government’s petition against the DERC chairperson’s appointment along with the state’s challenge to the Centre’s services ordinance on Monday.

Delhi government’s petition questioning the June 21 order of the Centre appointing former Allahabad high court judge as DERC chairperson also seeks to challenge the ordinance that gives the Centre power to take over appointments to commissions and bodies under Delhi government . (ANI)

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, which allowed the Delhi government on July 4 not to proceed giving oath to justice (retd) Umesh Kumar, the newly appointed chief of Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC), on Tuesday said that the matter will now come up on July 17, when it is to hear a challenge to the ordinance, using which the appointment was made by Centre.

The bench also comprised justices PS Narasimha and Manoj Misra.

Delhi government’s petition questioning the June 21 order of the Centre appointing former Allahabad high court judge as DERC chairperson also seeks to challenge the ordinance that gives the Centre power to take over appointments to commissions and bodies under Delhi government under Section 45D of the newly promulgated Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Ordinance), 2023].

Following the July 4, the top court heard a substantial petition filed by the Delhi government on July 10 challenging the entire ordinance. The court agreed to consider interim orders for stay of the ordinance on Monday. It gave two weeks to the Centre and LG to file comprehensive response defending the validity of the ordinance after the Delhi government alleged that the ordinance flew in the face of the top court’s May 11 judgment which held services under the subjects on the State List will stay with the Delhi government.

Appearing for Delhi government in the DERC matter, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Tuesday told the Court that the Centre is yet to file its response. The court told the Centre to file its response by the next date.

Senior advocate Harish Salve appeared for LG VK Saxena and supported the court’s suggestion to take up the challenge to the ordinance together with the DERC matter.

While arguing against the Ordinance, the Delhi government sought a “qualified stay” pointing out that on July 3, the L-G issued yet another direction removing over 400 ‘specialists’ hired by Delhi government to use their expertise in running of different departments under the Delhi government. The Delhi government linked this decision to the misuse of the ordinance and urged the Court to hear their prayer for interim relief expeditiously since the ‘specialists’ fired by L-G are out of job and have lost their salaries.

The Ordinance was promulgated on May 19, days after an authoritative ruling by the top court on May 11 held that the elected government in Delhi cannot function without administrative control over bureaucracy as it forms part of collective responsibility where the government is accountable to those who voted for them.

The May 11 verdict came on a petition filed by Delhi government which challenged a similar attempt by Centre to take away control over transfers, postings of officers from Delhi government by issuing an executive order in 2015. After the Court’s ruling rendered this notification redundant, the Centre brought the Ordinance to retain its hold and created a National Capital Civil Services Authority (NCCSA) where decisions of transfer, posting and disciplinary action against officers posted with Delhi government departments will be decided by Chief Minister and two other bureaucrats, namely Chief Secretary and home secretary.

The Delhi government said that the Ordinance shows contempt to the elected Delhi government and relegates the chief minister to being a minority-voice in NCCSA. By conferring wide discretionary powers on civil servants to override the Delhi government, the Ordinance “in effect and design allows the Union to take over the governance of Delhi,” it added.