The FIR filed against the Delhi CM, his deputy and 13 others for the alleged assault on the chief secretary last February could only lead to revisiting the bad blood that inevitably marks the ties between the government of Delhi and the Centre. The crime itself would appear serious regardless of who perpetrated the assault on a senior bureaucrat at the residence of the CM. No one is above the law and complaints against anyone, even in the highest rungs of authority, must be looked into fairly. However, the officious route of FIRs encompassing everyone on the scene can only lead to further stress in relationships governing the Centre, the Delhi CM, the lieutenant-governor, the chief secretary and his team of bureaucrats. It remains to be seen what sort of evidence can be gathered when the CCTVs were switched off.
Ever since the second regime of Arvind Kejriwal came into place on the crest of an unprecedented majority, all we have seen occurring is a set of events showing up the fissures in governance with the Centre’s representative at odds with the elected government. Delhi’s peculiar status as a territory to be administered by a chief minister and his Cabinet under a L-G with a given set of powers and the police coming under the home ministry has inevitably led to tensions that can be overcome only if reasonable positions are taken by all sides. However, under CM Kejriwal, seemingly more intent on the theatrics of dares and protests, a permanent standoff has become the new normal. FIRs will invariably be perceived as political witch hunts if they do not quickly lead to judicial scrutiny and a verdict.
A positive way forward can be pursued only by statesmanship on both sides of the Centre-Delhi divide, but that is akin to asking for the moon.
