In a major boost to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who has time to time alleged that Narendra Modi interferes into his authority, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said “an elected govt should have some power to run, otherwise the government cannot function.” The apex court made the observation during a hearing of the Delhi Government’s civil suit seeking a declaration that the national capital is a state and its petition against the order of the High Court which held that the city is a Union Territory with Lt Governor as its administrative head, a report said. CM Kejriwal even had accused the central government of harassing the Delhi government for doing “good work”. The case will be next heard on January 18. This will give much-need relief to the Delhi Chief Minister after the top court dismissed his plea for a stay on proceedings in a criminal defamation case filed by Union Minister Arun Jaitley against him.
Then, his counsel Ram Jethmalani tried to give a political colour to the matter by saying the case is a result of a fight between a “powerful minister” and the chief minister of a small state. Jethmalani’s arguments, including his attempt to rake up the issue of differences between judiciary and Centre over the appointment of judges, did not cut ice with the apex court which refused to interfere with the judgement of the Delhi High Court giving the go-ahead to the trial court in the criminal defamation against Kejriwal. “We have seen the judgements of Delhi High Court and trial court. We can’t interfere with the judgements. In the facts and circumstances of the case, the petition is dismissed,” a bench of Justices P C Ghose and U U Lalit said.
It has been a bitter tussle between Delhi Chief Minister and the central government and Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung. One can hope that the Supreme Court will be able to resolve the complex issue.