New Delhi: The Supreme Court's landmark judgment today clarifying that it is the elected government and not the Lieutenant Governor who is the boss of Delhi, should be a "big lesson" for the BJP, Aam Aadmi Party's Raghav Chadha told NDTV. Welcoming the court's judgment, he said it was a victory for the people of Delhi and that "we (their elected representatives), can finally breathe".
"It is a big lesson for the BJP that they should not disturb this fine balance of power that the constitution has provided between the Centre and the states," Mr Chadha said in an exclusive interview.
"Also, it is for them to understand that this regular fetish to undermine elected governments is neither good for the democracy nor good for politics and that's what the Supreme Court said today," he added.
"It is inconceivable that a government exists with no control, no administrative control over officers. A government cannot function like this. A government, its ministers, function through bureaucrats," said Mr Chadha.
The top court's judgment came after eight years of frequent tussles between the Aam Aadmi Party government and the Lieutenant Governor, who is the Centre's representative in Delhi.
Recalling the Central notification of May 2015 that gave the Lieutenant Governor all the power over bureaucracy, overriding the Delhi government, Mr Chadha said the reason was political.
AAP has repeatedly claimed that handing of powers to the Lieutenant Governor was the BJP-led Central government's bid to rule Delhi by proxy after they were routed in two consecutive assembly elections.
After years of legal battle, the Supreme Court today said that in a democratic form of governance, the real power of administration must rest on the elected arm. Only "Public Order, Police and Land" are excluded from the jurisdiction of the Delhi government, the judges said.
The Lieutenant Governor, who represents the Centre in Delhi, is bound by the elected government's decision on services and should function with the aid and advice of the council of ministers, said the bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud.
The Central government's power in matters in which both the Centre and states can legislate "is limited to ensure that the governance is not taken over by the Central government," the court said.