A lack of maturity by both the Centre and therefore the Delhi government has led to governance tussles on a day to day between the 2 on every aspect, the Supreme Court said during a judgment on Thursday.
A Bench led by Justice S.K. Kaul said the “unique” inter-relationship between different political dispensations within the Centre and Delhi had worked well for years until recently.
“The previous couple of years have seen an unfortunate tussle on every aspect with the government seeking to exercise powers as the other Assembly and therefore the Central Government unwilling to allow them to do so… it’s almost a daily governance tussle,” Justice Kaul noted.
The court addressed the Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi directly in its judgment, saying “the political dispensation which is in power within the State has got to recognise the constitutional scheme of division of powers in Delhi which circumscribes their ability to figure only within those powers. once they got elected, they knew what they were getting elected for — not what they thought should be the division of powers”.
Now, turning to the Narendra Modi government within the Centre, the apex court observed that “the Central government is required to figure in tandem, albeit with a special political dispensation”.
“Maturity is required from each side and that we need to reluctantly note the absence of such maturity during this important interrelationship,” Justice Kaul wrote.
The court said the lack of the Centre and Delhi government to ascertain eye-to-eye on governance issues within the Capital has been liable for a spate of litigation. “Repeated judicial counsel to figure in tandem has not been successful,” the court noted.
