A case involving who should control bureaucrats in the capital, at the heart of a prolonged conflict between the Centre and the Delhi government, will be taken up by the Supreme Court on March 3.
Senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi raised the case before Chief Justice NV Ramana on behalf of the Delhi Government and requested a hearing.
The case involves a legal wrangle between the BJP-led central government and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)'s Delhi government over the control of the civil services.
The points of dispute include the transfer postings of IAS (Indian Administrative Service) officers.
The AAP government has long accused the Centre of using the Lieutenant Governor to control Delhi and obstruct the decisions of the elected government.
A constitution bench of the Supreme Court had ruled that police, land and public order are the domain of the Centre, and the rest is under the Delhi government.
"The two-judge bench gave different views in the service matter and then the matter was sent to three judges. Since the entire administrative control is currently with the central government, this is an important issue. It hinders the ability of the Delhi government to conduct and implement its policies. So the matter should be heard soon," the Delhi Government's lawyer, Rahul Mehra, had told the court in October.
AAP says two judgments, in 2018 and 2019, have not given any clarity on the drawn out dispute.
In 2018, a five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court had ruled that the Lieutenant Governor - the Centre's representative in Delhi - did not have independent decision-making powers and the real power had to be with the elected government barring police, law and order and land.
In 2019, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court gave a split verdict and referred the case to a three-judge bench.
In the two-judge bench, Justice Ashok Bhushan had said the Delhi government has no power over the administrative services but Justice AK Sikri had said for officers below the rank of joint director, Delhi should take the decision and the Lieutenant Governor should step in only if there is a difference of opinion.
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