Faith in judiciary restored, says CM Kejriwal

New Delhi: Heaving a sigh of relief over the Supreme Court verdict on the power tussle between the Delhi government and the Centre, the AAP leadership on Wednesday accused the BJP dispensation at the Centre of creating “chaos” in the national capital in the last three-and-a-half years.

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday hailed the top court verdict as a “big victory” for the people of the city and for democracy. “If Modi govt had not withdrawn the powers of elected govt through illegal orders, precious three years would have been saved. People of Delhi are grateful to judiciary. Today’s order reinforces people’s faith in judiciary (sic),” he tweeted.

The apex court has held that lieutenant-governor Anil Baijal does not have independent decision-making powers, and is bound to act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers.

Following the verdict, elated party workers gathered outside the chief minister’s residence and distributed sweets.

“Can Modiji revoke 3 years 5 months of chaos in Delhi? Will Delhi people forgive BJP for ruining 3 years 5 months (sic)?,” AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj asked in a tweet.

The SC verdict may slow down the party’s ongoing full statehood agitation because the court has “restored” Delhi government’s powers and the movement was woven around the stand that the Centre and L-G were not allowing it to work, party sources said.

However, senior party leaders Raghav Chhadha and deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia asserted that the movement will continue. Mr Kejriwal also met former Union minister P. Chidambaram and other senior lawyers, including Gopal Subramanium, for representing the city government in the apex court.

Terming the judgement “historic”, Mr Sisodia recalled the landmark mandate that the people of Delhi had given to the AAP in the Assembly elections in February 2015 when the party won 67 of 70 seats.

The apex court has held that lieutenant-governor Anil Baijal does not have independent decision-making powers, and is bound to act on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers.

“On behalf of the people of Delhi, I want to thank the Supreme Court, and the judges for this historic decision. They have pronounced that the people of Delhi are supreme,” Mr Sisodia told reporters.

“We have not yet read the judgement in full, but what the court has said that people are supreme, elected government will be supreme, and L-G has no power to act arbitrarily (‘L-G ke paas manmani karne ki power nahn hai’),” he added.

The “historic mandate” given to a new party was for development, welfare of the people and to facilitate resumption of long-pending works, the deputy chief minister said.

However, “hurdles” were thrown in the way of the functioning of an elected government through a “wilful interpretation” of the Constitution, he added.

“Whether it was the issue of installation of CCTV cameras, ration scheme, transfer and posting (of officials), interference was being created,” he added.

The apex court decision is a major victory for Kejriwal’s AAP government, which has been in a constant tug of war with LG Anil Baijal over the power wielded by the two branches of the executive.

The judgement pronounced by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, who was heading a five-judge Constitution bench, also held that the LG cannot act as an “obstructionist