Supreme Court posts Centre vs Delhi govt tussle on control over ‘services’ for March 3

Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana on Tuesday scheduled for March 3 a prolonged legal tussle between the Centre and the Delhi government on which of them actually flexes administrative control over bureaucracy and ‘services’ in the capital. In an urgent oral mentioning, senior advocate A.M. Singhvi, for Delhi, requested the Chief Justice of India to post the reference for hearing soon, possibly in the beginning of March. The senior lawyer said the case concerned an important question of law dealing with governance and administration of the capital. The reference to a larger Bench dates back to February 14, 2019, when a Division Bench of Justices A.K. Sikri and Ashok Bhushan (both retired) gave a split opinion on the question of ‘services’. While Justice Bhushan had held that the Delhi government had no power over ‘services’, Justice Sikri, who was the lead judge on the Bench, took the middle path. Justice Bhushan, in his separate opinion, said Entry 41 of the State List in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, dealing with ‘State Public Services,’ was outside the purview of the Delhi Legislative Assembly. Justice Sikri, on the other hand, had concluded that files on the transfers and postings of officers in the rank of Secretary, Head of Department and Joint Secretary could be directly submitted to the Lieutenant-Governor (L-G). As far as DANICS (Delhi Andamans Nicobar Islands Civil Service) cadre was concerned, the files could be processed through the Council of Ministers led by the Chief Minister to the L-G, Justice Sikri wrote. Again, in case of a difference of opinion, the L-G prevailed. Justice Sikri said there was a need to evolve a “just and fair mechanism.” Calling the Delhi government’s arguments that assumption of full and exclusive powers over the transfers and postings was “doubtful,” Justice Sikri said the situation in Delhi was “peculiar.” The judge had proposed setting up Civil Service Boards to take care of service matters in case of grade one, two, three and four officers. The Board regarding grade four and three officers could be led by the Services Secretary and the other by the Chief Secretary. The February 2019 judgment on individual appeals had followed a Constitution Bench verdict on July 4, 2018. That Bench had held that the L-G was bound by the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers of the National Capital Territory government.