New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to list for hearing the Delhi government's plea challenging a law that allegedly gives more power to its Lieutenant Governor.
"We will list it," a bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana, and justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli said. Their response came to an appeal for urgent hearing of the case by senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for the Delhi government.
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Singhvi said the Act [the Government of National Capital Territory (Amendment) Act 2021] was contrary to the constitution bench judgement of the Supreme Court and against Article 239AA (which deals with the status of Delhi) under the Constitution. He said the new Act made the Lieutenant Governor more powerful than the elected government and thus made governance "difficult".
The Government of National Capital Territory (GNCTD) Amendment Act, 2021, was cleared by the Lok Sabha on March 22 and the Rajya Sabha two days later, post which it came into force.
According to the bill, the "government" in the city would mean the "Lieutenant Governor" in the context of any law made by the legislative assembly. The bill also makes it mandatory for the Delhi government to take the opinion of the LG before any executive action.
