Centre to court: L-G has power to disagree with govt

The Centre on Thursday told the Delhi high court that the lieutenant-governor has the statutory power to disagree with the city government and when a decision is taken in his name, files have to be shown to him.

Continuing his argument before the bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath, additional solicitor-general (ASG) Sanjay Jain said the lieutenant-governor (L-G) is different from the governor because the former can disagree with the council of ministers.

“There cannot be a situation that a decision is taken in the name of the L-G, but you (GNCTD) will not show him the files. For normal smooth governance, the L-G agrees with the council of ministers and even if he has to disagree, the concerned paper and file has to be on his table.

“The L-G is different from the governor because he can disagree with council of ministers. And the extent of disagreement can be on any matter or on all matters. These are the statuatory powers given to the L-G,” Mr Jain said.

The submissions were made by the ASG during the final hearing on the issue of interpretation of Article 239AA regarding the powers of the L-G on the governance of Delhi.

A total of 11 cases, arising out of the spat between the L-G and the Delhi government, are being heard together by the bench headed by the Chief Justice.

He further said that “though we may say NCT or GNCTD, but still Delhi is not a full-fledged state as it is a different kind of state or rather a Union Territory (UT).”

“There are several UTs but all UTs are not alike. Laws on the constitutional position can be different in various UTs. Article 239AA of the Constitution envisages a legislature for a UT, but not all UTs. Like Andaman and Nicobar which does not have a legislature,” he said.

The ASG said that it cannot be claimed by any legislature, legislative body or any government that the Centre has a grudge against it or has taken its power.