Najeeb Jung: Verdict neither victory for me, nor defeat for CM

Pointing out that the crux of the Delhi high court’s ruling on Thursday was to govern the city as per the provisions of the Constitution, lieutenant-governor Najeeb Jung on Thursday said the verdict giving him primacy as the “administrative head” of Delhi was neither a victory for him nor a defeat for chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Addressing his first press conference after the high court verdict, Mr Jung said a number of decisions, including the Delhi government’s directions to power regulator DERC, appointment of government representatives to BSES board and certain orders relating to tax will have to be “corrected,” as they did not have his concurrence.

The lieutenant-governor, who had a long-running battle with the AAP government on a host of jurisdictional issues, said he always wanted to protect the provisions of the Constitution and did not agree with the AAP government’s decisions when he found they were at variance with the laid-down norms.

“It is not a victory of anyone. It is not a win for Najeeb Jung and loss for Arvind Kejriwal. The court order is a kind of clarification that incorrect things will have to be corrected,” he said. The lieutenant-governor, who has been targeted by the Kejriwal government for his decisions, said, “My DNA is such that I don’t get affected by abusive language.” Mr Jung said the verdict clarified that matters related to services will have to be handled by the lieutenant-governor and that the Centre’s concurrence was not necessary on certain issues and he can take calls on them.

In a huge setback for the Kejriwal government, the high court held that the lieutenant-governor is the administrative head of the National Capital Territory and the AAP government’s contention that he is bound to act on the advice of the Council of Ministers was “without substance.”

A bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath dismissed the AAP government’s plea challenging the Centre’s May 21, 2015, notification giving absolute powers to the lieutenant-governor in appointing bureaucrats in the national capital.

The court also quashed several notifications issued by Mr Kejriwal after returning to power last year, saying they were illegal as they were issued without concurrence of the lieutenant-governor. The bench, in its 194-page judgment, said the AAP government’s contention that the lieutenant-governor is bou-nd to act on the aid and adv-ice of the Council of Min-isters cannot be accepted.

Mr Jung said the Delhi chief minister may have animosity against him, but he does not have any such thing against Mr Kejriwal. Asked about the AAP government’s decision to challenge the high court verdict in the SC, he said, “They do not have a case.”

On the slugfest between his office and the AAP government, the lieutenant-governor said, “My office has never used abusive language against anybody. We did not start the slugfest. Whenever we get any papers, (we) validate it with constitutional statutes. We had sent to the Centre all 14 bills sent to me by the AAP. They are looking into it.”

On the five bills related to enhancing salaries of MLAs, ministers, Speaker, deputy speaker and Leader of Opposition in the House, Mr Jung said following communication on them by the Centre, he had sought certain clarifications, but the AAP government has not responded.

“Any bill that has financial implication or chance of repugnance with a Central law should get prior approval,” Mr Jung said.

The lieutenant-governor said he had declared only a few orders as “unconstitutional.” “I do report to the Centre, but (it is) wrong to say we act against interest of the Delhi government. Don’t think the stalemate has affected governance in Delhi. 99 per cent matters that came to us were cleared,” he said, adding, “Kejriwal and Najeeb Jung are immaterial. What matters is constitutional norms.”