Amid the continued power tussle between the Delhi LG and AAP-led government, lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena on Monday asked chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to hold regular meetings with him in the “interest of consciously deliberative and conflict free governance”. In a letter to Kejriwal, Saxena said they used to meet regularly till October 2022 but the chief minister expressed his inability due to his “preoccupation with state assembly and municipal elections.”
“Now, that the same are over, it will be in the fitness of things that such meetings are resumed in the interest of consciously deliberative and conflict free governance of the City, in the interest of its people,” Saxena said.
This comes days after Kejriwal wrote to Saxena arguing that the LG is bound by aid and advice of council of ministers on all but three reserved subjects amid controversy over the nomination of aldermen in MCD. Kejriwal sought clarification from Saxena over his official position on the term “LG/Administrator” used in the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act.
Kejriwal said he came across a statement issued by the LG office in which it was said the ten aldermen and the presiding officer for the election of the mayor were “directly appointed…without the involvement of the elected government" because the relevant provisions of the DMC Act say “Administrator shall appoint...”.
"Sir, can we assume that this is your official position that wherever in any law or Constitution, it is written that "LG/Administrator shall..." or wherever government has been defined as "LG/Administrator", in all those cases, Hon'ble LG shall, from now onwards, exercise powers eo-nominee and in his own discretion, directly, ignoring the elected govt.?" the letter read.
{{/usCountry}}"Sir, can we assume that this is your official position that wherever in any law or Constitution, it is written that "LG/Administrator shall..." or wherever government has been defined as "LG/Administrator", in all those cases, Hon'ble LG shall, from now onwards, exercise powers eo-nominee and in his own discretion, directly, ignoring the elected govt.?" the letter read.
{{/usCountry}}"If that be the case, then the elected govt. of Delhi will become irrelevant because practically in every law and every provision, the word used is "Administrator/LG" and the Council of Ministers works in the name of LG/Administrator." it added.
In a backhanded compliment for Kejriwal, Saxena said he would like to express his “appreciation for the fact that you have started taking governance in the City seriously and gotten into the intricacies of Constitutional provisions, Statutes and Acts that outline the multi-layered scheme of administration in the National Capital Territory of Delhi."
“The provisions governing administration in Delhi emanate out of serious deliberations in the Constituent Assembly, State Reorganization Commission and the Parliament of India, apart from having been clearly interpreted by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India on several occasions,” he said.
“While the same are amply clear for any practitioner of Statecraft, lawyer, scholar as indeed a common citizen concerned with it, for the sake of ample clarity, I would like to invite you for a meeting where we could discuss issues threadbare,” the LG added.