For Arvind Kejriwal and Centre, One Court Hearing Ends, Another Later Today

New Delhi:  After days of aggressively circling each other, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the Centre are not in detente. However, the Supreme Court has said it will not get involved with the controversy at this stage, and has asked the Delhi High Court to decide the matter.

Mr Kejriwal’s government, elected by Delhi in February, is fighting the Centre over what it describes as a naked and aggressive attempt to seize control of the capital. The Centre says that as its representative in Delhi, the Lieutenant Governor, Najeeb Jung, is the final authority on matters including the appointment of bureaucrats.

While Mr Kejriwal took his case to the Delhi High Court, the Centre had asked the Supreme Court to intervene. Both cases were based on a notification issued by the Centre earlier this month which, by pronouncing ample powers for the Lieutenant Governor, hemmed in Mr Kejriwal’s area of operation. The notification was described as “suspect” by the Delhi High Court on Monday, offering some vindication for the Chief Minister.

The Centre had challenged the High Court’s verdict in the Supreme Court, where judges today said their involvement is not merited. They asked the Delhi High Court instead to decide the matter without being influenced by the earlier observation that deemed the notification “suspect”. The Chief Minister has asked the High Court to rule that the notification wrongly describes the Lieutenant Governor as the appointing authority for bureaucrats and exempts central government officers from being investigated by the Delhi government’s Anti-Corruption Bureau.

Mr Kejriwal has said that the controversial notification exhibits the Centre’s attempt to rule Delhi by proxy and to protect corrupt officers.

He has said his government will campaign for full statehood for Delhi, which is a union territory, to end the tug-of-war for power with the Centre.