SC Seeks Centre's Response On Delhi Govt Plea Challenging L-G's Power To Appoint Lawyers

The Supreme Court on Monday sought the Centre's and Delhi Lieutenant-Governor's reply on a petition moved by the Delhi government challenging the Centre's decision to vest the L-G with authority to appoint government lawyers, news agency PTI reported. The plea is being heard by a two-judge bench of the apex court comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta.

The bench issued a notice to the Centre and Delhi L-G VK Saxena and sought their responses in the matter by the first week of May. In its plea, the Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government has opposed a 2017 office memorandum issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and an order passed by the L-G's office on February 16.

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"The elected Government of NCT of Delhi ought to be able to decide on the engagement of counsel, and the right to choose a counsel of a choice is one of the most zealously guarded rights. The elected Government cannot be shut out from choosing its advocates before the Constitutional Courts," the plea says.

The petition claims that the impugned memorandum and other orders passed by the L-G's office severely obstruct and hinder the Delhi government's ability to represent the interests of the electorate of the National Capital Territory (NCT) before courts of law. During the hearing on Monday, Justice Khanna suggested that the Delhi government's latest plea would ultimately be linked to its challenge against the amendment introduced in the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act by an Act of Parliament in 2023.

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The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act, dubbed the 'Delhi Services Act', which came into effect in August last year, gives the Centre control over bureaucracy in Delhi and an authority was created under it for the transfer and posting of Group-A officers.

(With inputs from agencies)