The Supreme Court of India’s judgment, in November 2023, permitting a six-month extension to Delhi’s Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar is one more instance of the Court’s judicial self-abnegation. The Court sets out the correct doctrine, but when the government digs in its heels and refuses to follow the law laid down, the Court buckles down and invents a subsequent justification for the government to do as it wants. This kind of reversal renders the Court’s judgments as “writ in water”.
Delhi’s incumbent Chief Secretary has serious charges of corruption and favouritism against him, with the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal writing to the Delhi Lt. Governor seeking the Chief Secretary’s removal. He was anyway due to retire on November 30, 2023 and the Delhi Government had sought discussions with the Centre on appointing a successor. On November 28, the Chief Justice asked the Solicitor-General, “Or you (Centre) can let this man superannuate and make a fresh appointment… Don’t you have an IAS officer who can be appointed Chief Secretary?” The Solicitor-General responded that a 2023 Amendment Act gave the Centre statutory authority over the civil services in the national capital. Later the court was informed that the Centre had chosen to extend the Chief Secretary’s tenure by six months.
