AAP moves SC against 'blocking of transfer'; Centre says need to recall earlier notification

A day after the Supreme Court ruled that the Delhi government and not the Centre will handle the appointment of bureaucrats in the capital, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government moved the apex court again, alleging that the BJP-led Union government had once again obstructed the transfer of a bureaucrat.

The AAP government approached the Supreme Court on Friday saying the Centre should be held liable for contempt of court. Within hours of the landmark judgement on Thursday, the Kejriwal government had removed the secretary of the Delhi government's services department, Ashish More, and appointed former Delhi Jal Board CEO AK Singh, a 1995-batch IAS officer, in his place.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the Delhi government, mentioned the matter before chief justice DY Chandrachud and justice PS Narasimha, saying the top court delivered the judgment on Thursday and the Centre appeared to be defying it. The chief justice said he will list the case next week.


Union government officials, however, denied the charge and claimed that implementing the Supreme Court's directions would necessitate removal of the Centre's notification.

"To implement Supreme Court directions, notification issued by the centre needs to be withdrawn. Then only new directives would set in," a senior officer said on condition of anonymity, adding that Kejriwal appeared to be "in a hurry for no reason".

"It's a process which is being complied with, and it is being done. What is the hurry?" the officer said. The Delhi government, however, said that with the apex court's order, the home ministry's notification automatically became infructuous.

On Thursday, in a big win for the AAP government, a Constitution bench of the Supreme Court in a unanimous verdict gave the Delhi assembly powers to legislate to represent the will of the people. It said in a democratic form of governance, the real power of administration must rest on the elected arm of government, adding that 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".