Lawyer, judge thyself!

There is some irony in the fact of former Union home minister and well-known lawyer P. Chidambaram accepting the brief of the AAP government in Delhi in the matter of division of powers between the National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Centre, which is now before the Supreme Court. The running fight on this score has hobbled the relations between the AAP and the BJP.

However, there is a personal and a political angle here. AAP leader and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had no qualms about attacking senior Congress leaders, including Mr Chidambaram, as “corrupt” when the AAP was in the process of building its image as a crusader against corruption. On account of this, some Congress leaders have taken light-hearted pot-shots at Mr Chidambaram.

The political side of the story is that the Congress, not unlike the BJP that is now ensconced at the Centre, has traditionally favoured the idea of the Union government exercising power over the elected government of the Union Territory of Delhi in crucial matters such as land use, law and order (control over Delhi Police) and the transfer and postings of officers of all-India cadres seconded to the Union government.

In his avatar as the home minister, Mr Chidambaram too had appeared to endorse the status quo. The apex court also indicated the other day that the constitutional provisions appeared to suggest the superior authority of the Centre in respect of the contentious areas, though the idea of expanding the role of the elected government of Delhi could be looked at. Perhaps this is the case Mr Chidambaram might seek to present.