HC's 'suspect' tag no bearing on Centre Kejriwal cas : Supreme Court
The apex court also issues notice to the Delhi government on Centre's appeal against HC order allowing the Anti-Corruption Branch of Delhi to take action against bureaucrats.
The SC made the ruling during hearing of a case filed by the Centre challenging the Delhi High Court's earlier observation that the Centre has wrongly stated that the Lieutenant Governor is not obliged to consult Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal about the appointments of bureaucrats.
The HC had also overruled the Centre's declaration that its officers cannot be investigated for graft by the Anti-Corruption Bureau of the Delhi government.
On Friday another case is being heard simultaneously in the Delhi High Court, where Kejriwal has filed a petition n challenging the notification, which states that the Chief Minister has no role in the appointment of bureaucrats.
The bitter power struggle between the Centre and the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi has drawn the issue to the court after the Narendra Modi Government apparently sided with Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung who is having a tussle for authority with Kejriwal, who heads a Government that came to power with a landslide majority.
Kejriwal alleges that the ruling BJP at the Centre wants to govern Delhi by proxy, though the party has only three legislators in the Delhi Assembly as against 67 of the Aam Aadmi Party, which made a sweeping victory in the last Assembly elections.
Reacting to the SC observation, AAP leader Somnath Bharti said it is unlikely that the court has stayed a court's observation. "Never heard SC stay a High Court order. We will see the order. It is not a setback for AAP but a setback for the people of Delhi. It is unfortunate if at all the central government tries to save the corrupt officers on the basis of this order," reports quoted him as saying.
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