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Ananya Panda
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, July 10
On a day when Deputy CM Manish Sisodia slammed Lt Governor (LG) Anil Baijal over the appointment of the new education director in the city accusing him of “not keeping the government in the loop and bossing” around latter along with Chief Secretary (CS) Anshu Prakash today met Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba.
When asked about the meeting, Baijal in jest said, “All is well between him and Kejriwal” at a time when both the Kejriwal government and the LG refuse to give up control over services.
In the meeting, which lasted for about half-an-hour, the prevailing developments arising out of the conflict related to services in the backdrop of the July 4 Supreme Court (SC) judgement on the powers of the Delhi government are believed to have been discussed. The LG refused to divulge the details of the meeting.
Earlier, Sisodia, also the Education Minister, criticised Baijal for taking “unilateral” decision to appoint a 2004 AGMUT cadre officer Sanjay Goel as the director of the Education Department. “The LG didn’t think it appropriate even to discuss the appointment with the Delhi government despite knowing that education is our top priority. We would have suggested few names for the position, but he didn’t discuss the issue at all and just wants to boss keeping control over services,” said Sisodia, also informing that in view of this the government had to approach the SC, which has now kept the hearings on all petitions for the next week.
Clarifying on the legal positions of executive powers shared between the LG and the Delhi government, the SC in its July 4 judgement had observed that the LG cannot obstruct the government’s policy decisions and cannot make objections routine. Following the apex court’s verdict, the AAP government introduced a new system for transfers and postings of bureaucrats and employees making the CM and the Cabinet ministers the approving authority.
However, the services department refused to comply stating the notification issued by the Home Ministry in 2015 is still to be decided by the SC, something which was soon backed by the LG who too held the Centre’s notification valid.
In view of the conflicting interpretations of the SC ruling, Kejriwal wrote to the LG wondering how he can be “selective” in accepting the SC judgement on the ongoing power tussle, a criticism the LG viewed as “erroneous”. Baijal reiterated his position saying it would be premature to conclude before there is further clarity and the matter is disposed of by the regular bench of the SC even as he noted that the entire judgement and its implications are being studied.
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